Most of the Minneapolis Public Schools board met in secret on Thursday for a leadership-building meeting, saying the personal issues on the agenda didn't warrant open-meeting status.
Minneapolis schools closed the meeting hours before its start, citing precedence from across the river. In November, state Department of Administration Commissioner Matthew Massman issued a ruling that St. Paul Public Schools could conduct closed meetings on topics including problem-solving and communications among members with a facilitator — as long as they don't touch on board business.
St. Paul schools wouldn't overstep the state's open meetings law "if they are not 'gathering to discuss, decide or receive information as a group relating to 'the official business' of the governing body,' " Massman said in his opinion.
On the agenda for Thursday's board retreat was leadership capacity building, including how the board works together, said school board Chairwoman Rebecca Gagnon.
"You can have a freer conversation if there's not people sitting and listening and jotting notes, and potentially writing a story," she said in a hallway at the start of the meeting.
The meeting was publicly noticed on Monday afternoon as an open meeting, and the subject was tentatively described as "individual board member profile and assessment."
On Thursday morning, board executive assistant Jennifer Lindquist sent an e-mail that the open meeting was canceled. The meeting continued in a closed session Thursday evening. Gagnon asked two reporters who entered the room to leave.
The session was facilitated by Jonathan Bucki and Yoshiko Chino of Dendros Group, facilitators selected by Gagnon. In addition to the board members, Superintendent Ed Graff and school board administrator Jesse Winkler were also in the meeting.
