Keller School Board Met Illegally Ahead of LGBT Protections Vote, Experts Say

When Keller school board members agreed to cancel a vote on LGBT protections last month, they temporarily defused an explosive controversy in the conservative, affluent suburb of Fort Worth.

They also broke the law, according to three experts on the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Hours before the board’s August 13 meeting, Keller ISD Superintendent Randy Reid sent a group text message to all seven trustees. Reid recommended that the proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to anti-bullying and nondiscrimination policies be pulled from the agenda. Five trustees responded with their feedback, with three agreeing to Reid’s recommendation and two opposing it.

The private group text message exchange, obtained by the Observer through a Public Information Act request, constituted an illegal meeting of the board, according to Wanda Garner Cash, a University of Texas journalism professor and former executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The act prohibits a quorum of a governmental body from discussing public business behind closed doors.

Read more: http://www.texasobserver.org/keller-school-board-met-illegally-ahead-of-lgbt-protections-vote-experts-say/