Public not allowed as group advising on Wichita’s fall sports, school reopening meets

An advisory committee tasked by the Board of Education for Wichita Public Schools with reviewing the decision to cancel fall sports held its meeting in secret on Monday.

“As an advisory committee to the superintendent, it is not open to the public,” district spokesperson Wendy Johnson said in an email Monday morning after a reporter asked for the time and location of the meeting.

The school board’s motion on Aug. 20 to create the advisory committee did not refer to it as an advisory committee to the superintendent. Rather, it was to advise both the superintendent and the Board of Education on school reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 24, the school board directed the committee to make a recommendation on whether all extracurricular activities should be reinstated.

The school board has a special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the committee. It is the only meeting scheduled for before classes start Sept. 8.

The board previously decided to move all middle and high school classes online only for the first nine weeks of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic, effectively canceling the fall sports season. Elementary school parents have the choice of enrolling their students in online or in-person classes.

Holding the advisory committee meeting in secret may have violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act. The law states under KSA 75-4318 that committee meetings are open to the public.

“All meetings for the conduct of the affairs of, and the transaction of business by, all legislative and administrative bodies and agencies of the state and political and taxing subdivisions thereof, including boards, commissions, authorities, councils, committees, subcommittees and other subordinate groups thereof, receiving or expending and supported in whole or in part by public funds shall be open to the public,” the statute states.

A guide from the Kansas Attorney General’s Office also states that committee meetings are open to the public.

“The KOMA also applies to any subordinate group formed by such public agencies (e.g. committees, sub-committees etc.),” the guidance states. “This means that KOMA applies to state boards, commissions, committees, city councils, county boards of commissioners, township boards, rural water district boards, public library boards, etc. and most groups formed by such entities in order to assist them with public business.”

Johnson, the district spokesperson, did not respond to those statements. She is a facilitator for the committee.

A phone call to the district’s chief legal counsel, Tom Powell, was not answered. The answering machine message stated that the office was closed for Spring Break.

School advisory committee member Brandon Johnson told The Eagle that the meeting took place at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, though there was no apparent recommendation on the high school fall sports season. Johnson is a parent in the school district and a member of the Wichita City Council.

Committee membership includes two school board members along with two pediatricians and a psychologist who were on the work group that created the state’s criteria for school reopening.

Also invited were the county health director, the district’s athletic director, representatives from the teacher’s and service employee’s unions, parents and several representatives from USD 259.

Derby schools

Wichita is not the only local school district to hold a secret committee meeting on reopening.

A Derby USD 260 committee held a secret meeting last week. While Wichita’s committee only makes recommendations, the Derby school board delegated decisions on reopening to its committee.

The Derby committee met behind closed doors for 2.5 hours on Wednesday, where its members decided how the district will start the school year. The committee used the gating criteria approved by the board of education at its Aug. 24 meeting.

At the Aug. 24 meeting, Derby superintendent Heather Bohaty said the committee’s meetings would be secret.

“It was Board approved as an administrative committee and does not have four or more board members serving on the committee, however for future meetings to ensure transparency anyone may request link to listen,” USD 260 spokesperson Katie Carlson told The Eagle.

The open meetings law applies to administrative bodies.

Board president Justin Kippenberger was in the minority that voted against delegating the decision to a committee.“This isn’t just any old decision,” he said. “This is a decision on what we’re doing with school. ... These are very sensitive subjects for everybody in the district right now. The public did elect us as the board to come in here and make these kinds of decisions.”

Contributing: Dion Lefler of The Eagle

This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 6:25 PM.