Judge rules in favor of Wake school board

Wake County Superior Court Judge Bill Pittman dismissed a lawsuit today filed by parents and students against the Wake County Board of Education for violating the N.C. Open Meetings Law.

After hearing arguments that lasted two hours this morning, Judge Pittman dismissed the lawsuit claiming that the school board had violated the open meetings law by not providing a large enough space to accommodate everyone who wished to participate in a meeting where the board repealed a controversial diversity policy.

While plaintiffs had hoped for an injunction requiring the school board to move its meetings to a larger location, plaintiff attorney Swain Wood said  the judge did recognize certain measures the school board had taken as unreasonable, and urged them to be more open and conciliatory in future meetings.

The open meetings law requires that all official meetings of public bodies be open to the public and that anyone who wishes to attend a meeting is guaranteed the right to do so.

“There were more people at this meeting and the board knew that. They instituted policies that set up practical barriers,” said Barbara Garlock, one of the plaintiffs in the suit.

The school board met March 23 and voted to discontinue the Wake diversity policy, policy 6200, which buses students to achieve diversity in the schools based on socioeconomic status.

Plaintiffs argued that there was not a large enough space for everyone to attend who wanted to and that the alternate rooms, where a live video feed from the meeting was set up, was not sufficient as the video feed kept cutting out.

The board also implemented a ticketing policy for the first time on March 23, so that anyone who wanted to sit in the main room and have easier access to the podium would have to arrive during the school day.

“This is not about the diversity issue,” Garlock said. “It’s about open government, good government.

Ann Majestic, one of the attorneys for the school board, argued that the board did everything it could to make sure that people could attend the meeting and speak, regardless of overflow.

“What we found is that the last three meetings, there had been ample room, so there was really just the first time when they used the tickets on March 23, that there was a real overflow,” Majestic said.

The board argued that it had followed the law by arranging for overflow rooms, a video feed, and an option to be escorted into the main room for public comment.

“The board is assuring that anyone who wants to speak can speak. If you’re in the extra room you’re still able to speak,” Majestic said.

But the question of holding meetings that are open to the public goes deeper than adequate space and video feeds.

Students, parents and other citizens are concerned that as the school board votes on repealing a policy as important as diversity, they are not having the opportunity to have their voices heard.

“The way they have treated the public is as though they do not want to hear what they have to say. They will not look at people when they’re speaking,” Garlock said.

Garlock’s daughter graduated from Enloe High School in 2004.

Garlock stood for three hours at a March 2 board meeting, depending on an audio feed that she could barely hear.

Recovering from stage four breast cancer, standing for an extensive period of time wasn’t the best idea for Garlock, who went home on March 23 when she saw that it would be the same situation as before.

“I went to sign up (for a ticket), and I thought I am not getting stuck standing up, so I just left,” Garlock said.

“I did not speak, and it had a chilling effect on me. It had a chilling effect on a lot of people.”