Wake County Board votes unanimously to enter closed session on personnel, student privacy and litigation

During the Feb. 17 Wake County Board of Education work session, the chair moved that the board enter closed session to discuss confidential personnel matters, confidential student information protected under state statutes and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, to consult with the board's attorney to preserve attorney-client privilege in pending litigation, and to receive instructions related to public-infrastructure negotiations.

The motion cited state statutory authority and federal student-privacy law; the chair read the statutory references aloud, including multiple citations to the North Carolina statutes the board relied upon and to FERPA (20 U.S.C. 1232g). The motion also identified specific matters for discussion: pending litigation titled Wake County Board of Education v. Triangle Forest Products, Inc., and infrastructure negotiations related to PH1 Smith Road/Sunset Lake Road and the Felton Grove High School site.

Chair Swanson moved the motion; the transcript records it as "moved by Chair Hershey, seconded by Mr. Hegarty." The board took a roll-call (the meeting was virtual) and the recorded responses were in the affirmative. The chair announced the motion passed and the board entered closed session. The board returned at an indicated time of 5:30 p.m., according to the chair's statement in the transcript.

Because the reasons for closed session and the precise statutes were read into the record, the transcript records the board following statutory procedures for confidentiality and counsel consultation; no substantive details of the closed-session topics were discussed in open session.