210.3 – SPECIAL MEETINGS
Generally, board meetings shall be open meetings, unless a closed session or exempt meeting is provided for by law. The Board shall hold a closed session or exempt meeting in the situations stated below.
Notice may be oral or written and will specify the time and place of the meeting.
Notification of meeting will accord to Board Policy 210.5
If the special meeting called is an emergency meeting and the board cannot give public notice in its usual manner, the board will publish notice of the meeting as soon as practical and possible in light of the situation. Emergency meetings will only be held when an issue cannot wait twenty-four hours necessary for a special meeting. The reason for the emergency meeting and why notice in its usual manner could not be given will be stated in the minutes.
Only the purpose or issue for which the special meeting was called may be discussed and decided in the special meeting. The board will strictly adhere to the agenda for the special meeting and action on other issues will be reserved for the next regular board meeting.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code 21.3, .4; 279.2 (2009) 1980 Op. Att’y Gen 148.
Exemptions to the Open Meetings Law
Board meetings at which a quorum is not present, or gatherings of the Board for purely ministerial or social purposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid the purposes of the open meetings law requirements. Since gatherings of this type are exempt from the open meetings requirements, they can be held without public notice, be separate from an open meeting, be held without recording the gathering or taking minutes, and be held without a vote or motion. The Board may also hold an exempt session for the following:
- negotiating sessions, strategy meetings of public employers or employee organizations, mediation and the deliberative process of arbitration;
- to discuss strategy in matters relating to employment conditions of employees not covered by the collective bargaining law;
- to conduct a private hearing relating to the recommended termination of a teacher’s contract. However, the private hearing in the teacher’s contract termination shall be recorded and
- to conduct a private hearing relating to the termination of a probationary administrator’s contract or to review the proposed decision of the administrative law judge regarding the termination of an administrator’s contract.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code 20.17; 21; 22.7; 279.15, .16, .24 (2009); 1982 Op. Att’y Gen. 162; 1980 Op. Att’y Gen. 167; 1976 Op. Att’y Gen. 384, 514, 765.; 1972 Op. Att’y Gen. 158; 1970 Op. Att’y Gen. 287.
Date of Adoption: December 21, 1987
Reviewed & Revised: September 3, 1991, February 22, 1994, February 21, 2000, May 21, 2001, March 7, 2006, March 7, 2011, March 21, 2016m February 14, 2022