Austin school officials shouldn't leave public out in the cold

The public’s business needs to be done in public view. It’s debatable that actually happened at the Austin school board meeting Monday evening.

In a disconcerting lapse of protocol, board members voted on an issue during a session they claimed was open to the public — even as district police officers remained at the entrance to the lobby outside the meeting room, preventing reporters or other spectators from coming inside. Such an action violates the spirit, and likely the letter, of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

We don’t believe board members conspired to vote in secret. But with district staffers failing to tell the police officers and the public that the meeting was once again open, that was the effect.

The troubling incident, revealed by the Statesman’s Melissa Taboada, involved a grievance filed by two parents over proposed changes to the sexual education curriculum.

Texas law allows such hearings to be conducted in a closed session, as the issue may involve confidential student information or a complaint against a school district employee. But the board must reopen the meeting to the public before a vote is taken.

District spokesman Reyne Telles told the editorial board Wednesday the meeting was reopened before the vote, though he acknowledged there was no announcement alerting the people who had been forced to wait outside. Taboada saw police officers at the lobby doors, allowing only the parties to the grievance into the nearby meeting room.

“As far as a willful intent to subvert the law, there was not that,” Telles told us. “We can examine our practices for better customer service so there is not the appearance of any impropriety.”

The problem goes beyond perceptions, though: A breakdown in communication prevented the public from seeing its government in action.

The public deserves to know the outcome of any issue before an elected body, as these matters typically involve our tax dollars or the policies we abide by. Elected officials who cast votes outside the public view, even inadvertently, violate the public’s trust.

This is no time for tepid “if mistakes were made” apologies. Austin school board members and district officials owe the public a full explanation and assurances they won't be left out in the cold again.