From the Twin Falls Times-News
HAILEY – Blaine County school trustees were slated Tuesday night to fix two Idaho Open Meeting Law violations they made while renewing Superintendent GwenCarol Holmes’ contract.
The board received a notice last week from the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney, said district spokeswoman Heather Crocker.
In a closed session Nov. 17, trustees talked about Holmes’ contract. Then, they moved back into open session to approve a three-year renewal. But the item wasn’t properly listed on the agenda, officials say.
The board planned Tuesday night to withdraw its action, declare it void and vote again on the contract, Crocker said. “It’s certainly the board’s desire to do everything properly.”
Former board member Kathy Baker notified the prosecuting attorney after reading a statement from district leaders in the Idaho Mountain Express saying they didn’t think they made a mistake.
“I felt strongly that they violated Open Meeting Law,” she said. The board didn’t act in a transparent manner, she said, adding that the violations are “very concerning” and unfortunate.
She resigned from the board in July since she moved out of state. But she still follows Blaine County School District meeting agendas and minutes closely.
The agenda for the Nov. 17 meeting states the board was going into closed session to “consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student.”
It wasn’t appropriate to discuss a contract during that session, according to the prosecuting attorney. And the second violation was failing to include an item on the agenda about the Holmes’ contract.
At the time, the board received opinions from its attorney and the Idaho School Boards Association that the item was properly noticed, Crocker said.
But the decision to renew Holmes’ contract “seemed rushed and not properly vetted,” Baker said.
Meeting minutes show the board wasn’t planning to conduct the evaluation until January, she said. “I think it’s important the school board does what they tell the public they’re going to do.”
The board went through a four-hour training last year about how to effectively evaluate a superintendent, she said. And they planned to get feedback from employees as an important part of the evaluation process, Baker said, but that hasn’t happened.
Holmes’ new contract was slated to go into effect July 1, 2016 and run through 2019. She’s Idaho’s highest-paid superintendent, Idaho Education News reported, and currently earns a $168,000 salary.
Her contract isn’t the same as previous superintendents, Crocker said, but she couldn’t provide details about the differences.
In September 2013, the school board agreed to buy out former superintendent Lonnie Barber’s contract for $600,000 in cash and benefits. The decision came just six months after renewing his contract.
Officials cited differences in “leadership style” as the reason for his departure. After a search and interview process, Holmes was offered the job in April 2014.
From the Twin Falls Times-News