Williston Basin School District No. 7 board votes to enter executive session on negotiating strategy

Williston Basin School District No. 7 Board of Education members voted to go into an executive session at 5:01 p.m. to discuss negotiating strategy under North Dakota law.

The board cited North Dakota Century Code 44-04-19.1, subsection 9, as the legal authority for closing the meeting to the public so members could discuss bargaining strategy that the board said could have an adverse effect on the district's bargaining position. Board members voted in favor after a motion and second; the roll call recorded Aye votes from Jones, Harsh, Wheeler, Swint, Pilgore, Walston and Brynner.

The board chair and staff reminded members that the executive session would be recorded and that any collective decision, commitment or final action must occur after the board reconvenes in open session unless law requires otherwise. Meeting minutes show the executive session began at 5:01 p.m., and members of the public in the room were asked to leave before the closed discussion began.

No specific bargaining counterpart, contract, employee group or other negotiation subject was identified on the record; the motion on the agenda described only "negotiating strategy." The transcript does not list a mover or seconder by full name. The transcript also does not specify how long the executive session lasted or any subsequent open-meeting actions.

The action was procedural: the board used a statutory closed-session exception to discuss negotiating strategy and then proceeded to the executive session. The board did not take any final, open action on the record before closing the meeting to the public.

Minutes and any later public actions will be the official record of any decisions taken after the board reconvenes.