Can a school board enter executive session without first convening an open meeting?

I am a parent of two Buffalo Public School students and, given the Buffalo Board of Education’s recent issues, have recently begun paying closer attention to how our schools are being led. I’ve attended a couple of meetings and have been trying to educate myself about the Board’s governance, which I’ve found challenging based on the information available on its website. That led me to learn more about the requirements of New York’s Open Meetings Law.

I’ve noticed what appears to be a pattern in which the Board enters executive session without first being in an open meeting. More recently, the Board appears to have voted during one of those sessions on a matter involving the use of public funds. I’m trying to better understand whether these practices are consistent with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law and, if not, what steps I should take to bring attention to the matter.

Additionally, it’s unclear whether the bylaws the Board currently posts on its website (which are listed under “Policies”) are complete and up to date. There are a number of other practices that also raise questions about transparency and adherence to the Board’s own published policies.

We need more parents becoming involved with Buffalo Board of Education meetings and it is great that you are doing so.

The New York Coalition for Open Government has done reports on the proper and improper use of executive sessions. These reports, which you may have already seen, are on our website at www.nyopengov.org.

A very helpful resource is the New York Committee on Open Government, which is a different organization than the Coalition. The Committee is the state agency that issues opinions regarding the Open Meetings Law. The Committee has a website where you can search their Open Meetings Law opinions.

There are several ways you can address your open government and transparency concerns:

1. Contact school board members by email or phone regarding your concerns.
2. Speak to the full board during the public comment session they hold at their meetings.
3. Share your concerns with a news reporter. Sometimes media attention can cause changes to occur.
4. Request an opinion from the Committee on Open Government regarding a specific action the board took and ask whether they complied with the Open Meetings Law. Sometimes opinions from the Committee will get the attention of school board members.
5. Filing a lawsuit to address violations of the Open Meetings Law. This is a last resort as it is very expensive and hard to do.

We hope the above information helps.