Wendell district admits to open meetings violation

The Wendell School Board called a do-over Monday, admitting to a violation of open meetings law.

An agenda for the board’s Dec. 10 meeting did not list a time or location, as state law requires. The Twin Falls Times-News alerted the district to the violation, and reported on the matter Tuesday.

“After reviewing your concerns, we acknowledge that you are correct,” outgoing district Superintendent Tim Perrigot wrote in an email to the Times-News last week.

According to the Times-News report, the problems with board agendas were commonplace.

“I’ll take full responsibility for that,” Perrigot said during a board meeting Monday. “I will tell you we have not had the date and time on agendas for seven years.”

State law allows agencies to “cure” an open meetings violation by admitting the mistake and redoing actions taken at the meeting in question. The Wendell School Board did that Monday, voiding actions from its Dec. 10 meeting.

Ryan Bowman, the Twin Falls School District’s operations manager, will succeed Perrigot as superintendent in July, the Times-News reported last week.

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 35 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. He can be reached at [email protected]

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