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Trustee training stresses fiduciary limits and open‑meeting risks after complaint over shared texts
Summary
A training for Columbus School District trustees underscored that individual trustees have no authority outside properly noticed meetings and reviewed a recent complaint alleging a chain‑meeting created by shared text messages; legal counsel advised using district email and redoing actions when necessary to avoid litigation.
Jeff Walden, a school attorney, told Columbus School District trustees during a board training that individual trustees have no authority outside a properly noticed meeting and urged them to focus on governance rather than day‑to‑day operations. "The first one is individual trustees have no authority," Walden said, adding that trustees should govern from "10,000 feet" and rely on administration for operational decisions.
Trustees spent a substantial portion of the session reviewing a recent complaint alleging an open‑meeting law violation after text messages about a personnel decision circulated in the community. Several trustees described the sequence of messages, public disclosure and the stress the complaint caused; one trustee (speaker 7) apologized and said, "My apology. It will not happen again." Walden explained the legal theory behind "chain" or "walking" meetings — when separate private conversations and encounters collectively produce the same effect as a public meeting — and said courts focus on whether communications were used deliberately to avoid public discussion.
Walden counseled trustees to avoid conducting board business on personal devices when possible, explaining that personal emails and texts can become subject to discovery or litigation if a dispute reaches court. He described the principal legal exposure in open‑meeting litigation as the prevailing party’s attorney fees and told the board the usual remedial route is to "go back and do it over" at the next meeting to cure any defect. He also recommended routine pre‑meeting conversations with the superintendent and the chair as a practical way to reduce surprises at public meetings.
The session included practical steps for limiting risk: setting up district email addresses for trustees, avoiding "reply all" chains that could create multi‑member exchanges, and bringing contested matters back to the open agenda for transparent discussion. The training closed with trustees agreeing to pursue district email accounts and to follow up on policy‑review schedules.
