Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith
Rob Manning / OPB
Portland Public Schools was within the bounds of Oregon law when it
of an advisory committee last year, according to a ruling Wednesday.
OPB had challenged the district's decision to close meetings, arguing that it was a violation of public meetings law.
Oregon law requires advisory committees to meet in public, if they are advising a "governing body," such as a school board, but not if they are advising a single public official, such as a superintendent.
OPB argued in a lawsuit that the Superintendent's Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer (SACET) was required to meet in public because it was advising the school board. Portland school officials argued that even though the committee made preliminary and final recommendations at school board meetings, it was ultimately advising Superintendent Carole Smith, not the school board.
Multnomah County Judge pro tempore Janet Schroer issued a five-sentence order Wednesday, siding with PPS.
In a letter to attorneys Schroer wrote, "despite the fact there was contact between the Superintendent's Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer (SACET) and the School Board, SACET was ultimately what its name implies, an advisory committee to the Superintendent.”
Schroer went on to conclude "because SACET was not charged with making formal recommendations directly to the School Board, but rather made them to the Superintendent, SACET does not fit within the terms of the Open Meeting Laws."
The Portland School Board voted to change transfer policies in January this year, after hearing from SACET and receiving recommendations from Smith.
