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Granville County Board of Education ratifies Dec. 2 actions after attorney explains remote-vote policy
Summary
At a Dec. 9 special meeting, the Granville County Board of Education voted to ratify actions taken at its Dec. 2 meeting after board attorney Eva Duerson said remote participation did not violate open-meetings law and recommended a ratification motion under Robert’s Rules; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally.
The Granville County Board of Education on Dec. 9 voted to ratify the decisions it made at its Dec. 2 meeting after a legal briefing on whether board members could vote remotely.
Board attorney Eva Duerson told the board that a recent policy revision from the Scribe Board Association restricted remote voting "unless there's a state of emergency," but that the Court of Appeals decision prompting that model language had been later deemed non‑precedential by the North Carolina Supreme Court. "I didn't realize this. I apologize. None of us, had caught it," Duerson said, urging the board that it could use a motion to ratify under Robert's Rules and its own policy 23 40 to validate prior actions taken with remote participants.
The ratification motion was made by a board member who stated, "I move to ratify the votes taken by the board at its December 2 board meeting, essentially saying that everything that we voted on stands as it as we voted." The motion was seconded and the chair called for the vote. The chair declared the motion passed; the meeting transcript does not record a numerical roll-call or a final tally.
An unidentified board member questioned the timing of policy updates, saying, "I must be transparent. I went to a meeting in Raleigh in June, where it was said that a board member could not vote because they were not could not vote remotely and that was in June." That member pressed why the board's policy had not been updated sooner; Duerson replied that the School Board Association issues updates quarterly and that the most recent revisions may not yet have circulated to the full board.
The matter under review included the board's Dec. 2 vote to close an elementary school, which Duerson described as "a difficult decision that had been discussed over several meetings." Duerson said her explanation was intended "to allow the board when everyone could be here in person to revisit and decide whether to ratify the decision that was made at the previous meeting," adding that ratification is intended to validate, not relitigate, prior board decisions.
After ratifying the Dec. 2 actions, the board moved to adjourn and ended the special meeting.
The board’s attorney said the board can amend its remote participation policy going forward and suggested bringing revisions to the next meeting. The transcript does not specify the vote count or whether any member formally recorded a dissenting vote during the ratification roll call.
