Request By:
Mr. Charlie Akins
Superintendent
Hardin County Schools
Hardin County Board of Education
110 South Main Street
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether a certain committee created to discuss wages, fringe benefits and working conditions of the Hardin County School System is subject to the Open Meetings Law, KRS 61.805-61.850. The committee came into being as a result of the action of the Hardin County Board of Education which is recorded in the official minutes of the Board as follows:
"Order #2814 - COMMITTEE TO MEET WITH TEACHERS - The motion was made by Mr. Hayden and seconded by Mr. Simpson to authorize the Superintendent to appoint a committee consisting of the Superintendent, two members of the Central Office staff and three principals, preferably an elementary, high school and junior high, to constitute a committee to meet and discuss wages, fringe benefits and working conditions with a committee representing the certified staff of the Hardin County Board of Education to consist of five members of the Hardin County Education Association and one non-member of the association with the stipulation that no member other than a certified employee of the Hardin County Board of Education may serve on the committee. Vote unanimous."
Your question boils down to whether the committee in question is a public agency" within the statutory definition of KRS 61.805(2). A portion of said statute reads as follows:
"[A]ny county, city, school district, special purpose district boards, public commissions, councils, offices or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state; any committee, ad hoc committee, subcommittee, subagency or advisory body of a public agency which is created by or pursuant to statute, executive order, local ordinance or resolution or other legislative act, including but not limited to planning commissions, library or park boards and other boards, commissions and agencies;. . ."
In light of the minutes of the Board, Order No. 2814, we believe that the committee appointed by the Superintendent at the discretion of the Board is a public agency within the meaning of the Open Meetings Law.
You ask whether, in our opinion, a committee appointed by the Superintendent on his own initiative, and without any formal direction of the Board, would constitute a public agency. Our opinion is that it would not. The Superintendent, as a public officer with statutory authority to make recommendations to the Board of Education, may make such investigation and receive such advice from citizens as he deems necessary. If the Superintendent creates a committee of his on volition and the committee is to make recommendations to the Superintendent only, which recommendations the Superintendent may or may not relay to the Board as his own recommendations, the committee would have no official standing and would not be subject to the Open Meetings Law.
You further ask that if a committee created by the Superintendent engaged in informal negotiations with a committee of teachers in a private meeting, would there be a violation of the Open Meetings Law? In answering this question we would point out that such a meeting would be of great public interest and of particular interest to teachers, parents, taxpayers, etc., in the school district. However, if the confrontation between the two committees is informal in the sense that no agreement of any kind would be concluded and presented to the Board of Education for radification, we believe there would be no violation of the Open Meetings Law. The purpose of the Open Meetings Law is to prevent the public's business from being conducted in private. This fact should be kept in mind by public officials at all times.