DOCO SCHOOL BOARD LACKS TRANSPARENCY - CONDUCTS ILLEGAL MEETINGS

The Dougherty County School Board does not conduct Board meetings in accordance with Georgia state law (O.C.G.A. 50-14-1).

Areas of violations include (but are NOT limited to):

Improper public notification of Board Meetings and Board Committee Meetings.
Improper and incomplete issuance of public Board Agendas and support documents in advance of meetings.
Regular Board Meetings that frequently last five minutes (or less!) with no public discussion because the Board conducts improper meetings, secret telephone discussions in advance of the Board Meetings and have come to agreements on Agenda Items before the public Board Meetings are even held.
Withholding posting of Agenda Item documentation on the DCSS website prior to Board Meetings to prevent public scrutiny in advance of Board Meetings. The Board Member Agenda Packets (which are hand-delivered to Board members’ homes days in advance of the meeting) improperly include the items that are not made available to the public.
Minutes of Board Committee Meetings are not posted on the DCSS website for public information.
Every Board Meeting Agenda includes an Item entitled “Committee Reports” but over the last three years, from all the multiple Board Committees, there has only been one time that a Committee made a public report to the Board (and the public).
The majority of the Board (4 or more members) and the Superintendent meet with private groups without proper notification to the public that the Board is having meetings attended by the majority of Board members or Committee members as required by law.

Sources:

Ken Dyer, DCSS Superintendent

Certain Dougherty County Board members (names withheld to protect from retribution)

Certain School System Administrators (names withheld to protect from retribution)

Georgia.gov 50-14-1. Meetings to be open to public.

END

9/1/2024