UPDATE: The construction meeting repeat was cancelled ahead of the July 13 meeting and is rescheduled for July 27. School district officials have not said why the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for a second time. Initially the redo meeting was slated for June 15 during the board’s agenda review meeting, but the meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum and rescheduled for July 13.
THE ORIGINAL STORY
The Leon County School Board will revisit a discussion about potential changes to the district’s procurement process Monday after concerns were raised that an earlier meeting involving two board members was not publicly noticed in adherence with the Sunshine Law.
The discussion is scheduled for the board’s 3 p.m. agenda review meeting Monday, July 13, at the Aquilina Howell Center and is expected to recreate a conversation that took place April 29 among district staff, construction industry representatives and School Board members Marcus Nicolas and Darryl Jones.
Initially the redo meeting was slated for June 15 during the board’s agenda review meeting, but the meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum.
District officials have said the public discussion is intended to “cure” any potential Sunshine Law concerns and give the public an opportunity to hear what was previously discussed.
The issue surfaced during a recent board meeting when board member Alva Smith questioned why some members of the board did not know the April meeting had occurred.
“Female members were not invited, nor were we aware, nor was it noticed,” Smith said at the time.
According to Rod McQueen, assistant superintendent of support services, code and compliance enforcement and small business enterprise, the April meeting was hosted by the district’s construction and facilities department to gather feedback from contractors and district staff on the district’s procurement practices.
McQueen previously described the discussion as an opportunity to ask construction partners, “How are we doing?”Florida’s Sunshine Law requires discussions between two or more elected officials about matters that may come before their board to take place during a properly noticed public meeting.
Nicolas has maintained that the April discussion did not violate the law.
“There are multiple elements that have to exist in order to be a Sunshine Law violation and those elements do not exist,” Nicolas previously told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Still, Nicolas said he supports revisiting the discussion in a public setting.
“It’s important to underscore that the meeting (invite) was emailed to me as school board chair and I attend all the meetings,” Nicolas said. “This was a misstep by the district as the district is responsible to advertise and notice any meetings.”
Jones also defended his attendance at the meeting, saying his professional experience with procurement and contracting issues made him a valuable participant in the conversation.
“My presence at that meeting was because this was an idea born of both my vocation and my avocation,” Jones said during the meeting when the issue was initially discussed.
The July 13 meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on the Leon County Schools Board Meetings Facebook and YouTube channels. District officials have said the discussion will include the same participants and topics that were part of the April 29 meeting.
Alaijah Cross covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at abrown@tallahassee.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon School Board to revisit procurement talk Monday
Reporting by Alaijah Cross, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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By Alaijah Cross, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
