Chetopa-St. Paul USD 505 board repeatedly enters executive session on personnel; no public action

The Unified School District No. 505 board of Labette County met on Jan. 21, 2026, and repeatedly moved into executive session to discuss matters involving non-elected personnel, returning to open session at 7:55 p.m. with no public action taken.

Board President Roberta Carter called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. and noted all members were present except Jennifer Stewart. A motion to approve the agenda was made by Maggy Robison and seconded by Shelby Spielbusch; the board approved the agenda, 6-0.

During the business meeting the board made a series of motions to enter executive session under Kansas statute 75-4319. The first executive-session motion—moved by Josh Baker and seconded by Barbara Evans—said: “I make a motion to go into executive session with the Board and Lori Kopp via phone until 7:20 PM, to protect the parties involved for discussion of matters related to non-elected personnel including separations, new hires and employee performance and evaluation.” That motion passed 6-0.

Following the initial session, the board approved subsequent motions—each moved by Josh Baker and seconded by Barbara Evans—to extend or reconvene executive session with progressively later end times (7:25 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 7:35 p.m., and 7:36 p.m.), each described in the same terms as the first motion; each of those motions passed 6-0. Later the board moved into executive session again “with the Board, Mr. Bagshaw and Lori Kopp via phone until 7:55 PM” to continue personnel discussions; that motion also passed 6-0.

The meeting resumed in open session at 7:55 p.m.; the clerk recorded that no action resulted from the executive sessions. A motion to adjourn, made by Shelby Spielbusch and seconded by Josh Baker, carried 6-0 and the meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

Attendees listed in the transcript included President Roberta Carter; board members Barbara Evans, Josh Baker, Maggy Robison, Brock Aday, and Shelby Spielbusch; Superintendent Craig Bagshaw; KASB lawyer Lori Kopp (by phone); and Terri Ross, clerk. The transcript also lists “Brock and Danielle Mattox” among others present, which appears inconsistent with the members-present list naming Brock Aday; the transcript contains those differing forms and this article reports both verbatim without resolving the discrepancy.

The board cited Kansas statute 75-4319 as the legal basis for entering executive session to discuss non-elected personnel. The transcript records unanimous votes (6-0) on the motions to enter executive session and on the adjournment; it does not record any formal personnel actions or public decisions resulting from those executive sessions.