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Kent School District board moves communication policy to second reading after OPMA concerns
Summary
Directors debated adding a requirement for board presidents to provide periodic written updates to fellow directors but paused the change to avoid Open Public Meetings Act violations; staff will draft clarified language and explore noninteractive IT options. The board advanced the officers/duties policy to a second reading.
The Kent School District Board on [date] agreed to bring policy 12.20 (Board officers and duties) back for a second reading after extensive discussion over how the board president should share information gathered in external meetings.
Director Song asked the board to require periodic written updates from the president so other directors receive timely information about liaison work and external meetings. "I just think it would be really good practice to have the rest of the board informed," she said, arguing short monthly bullet updates could improve transparency.
Other board members and legal staff cautioned that exchanging information can trigger the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) if it becomes an opportunity for back-and-forth discussion. Legal counsel explained that one-way informational emails that do not prompt discussion are generally not OPMA violations and that the district's current practice is to use individual policy folders and controlled staff distribution to avoid serial meetings.
Superintendent Vela said staff will draft language that accomplishes the board’s requested communication while remaining within OPMA boundaries, and the board directed staff to also ask the IT team to explore noninteractive ways to share updates (a one-way posting or a read-only board-docs entry). Holly, the staff policy presenter, said she would return with edited language at the next work session.
The move to second reading allows the board time to revise the wording and consider whether the communication requirements should be framed under all board duties (applying when a director is acting as the board's agent) rather than solely as a president responsibility.
What happens next: Staff will prepare revised policy language and potential IT solutions; the revised policy will return for a second reading before any vote.
