From the Beaufort Observer (1/4/10): This article is offered not as news but as documentation of how our school board violates the spirit of running our schools in a transparent manner. It is an on-going story so we'll just post it and file it away in the archives until an appropriate time.
Here’s the background.
North Carolina law provides that school boards may go into closed session to discuss confidential personnel information. A strict interpretation of that statute would say that it is proper to discuss only the information that is confidential in closed session. School boards that operate in a transparent way go into closed session to review what is in the personnel file of the individuals being consider for personnel action. That information can include the pre-employment file or the personnel file for current employees. Not all information in a personnel file is confidential. A person’s grades, references, complaints, disciplinary actions etc. are confidential. The person’s name and “directory information” is not confidential. Directory information typically includes the person’s name, job assignment (ex. Teacher, principal etc.) job site assignment (school, department etc.) and the term of employment. Salaries are specifically specified in the law as public information and since last year the salary history if available is public record. The new law also requires that the school board maintain certain records that must be made available as public records. The include the date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation or other change in position classification. It further provides that a “general description of the reasons for each promotion that a public employee receives and a “record of the final decision of the public employer setting forth the specific acts or ommissions that are the basis of any dismissal.