After hours with the West Ada School District

Kevin Richert | 10/07/2015

Call it happy hour with West Ada School District trustees.

Given the recent discord on the school board, however, “happy” may be a stretch.

West Ada board meeting — An overflow crowd attended the West Ada School Board’s last meeting on Sept. 29 — a tense meeting punctuated by closed executive sessions and threats of recall elections targeting trustees.

Nevertheless, trustees will hold a closed executive session — at the unlikely hour of 5:30 p.m. Friday.

According to the meeting notice, trustees could discuss any of the following:

A hiring decision.
The “evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of” an employee or student.
Pending or likely litigation.

The board’s recent track record with executive sessions has been sketchy.

During a June 23 executive session, the lame-duck school board discussed an extension of Superintendent Linda Clark’s contract, through the 2017-18 budget year. A divided board voted 3-2 to grant the extension.

On Sept. 29, the board voted to void the contract, saying the discussion of the contract extension violated open-meeting law. That 4-1 vote reflected the shakeup on the board of the state’s largest district; new trustees Russell Joki and Julie Madsen joined the board in July, and joined the 4-1 majority in voiding the contract extension.

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]