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Letter to the Editor – Sunshine Law – 6.9.2016

Editor:

It is refreshing to observe the Ava R-I School Board’s recent attempt to fix a bus-transportation system that had apparently worked fairly well for over a half-century.

Maybe, new “blood” on the board has aided in solving this dilemma. And maybe, the old system could have used a tune-up instead of a massive overall rebuild.

I am only an observer. I do not reside in the Ava school district (Skyline), but have had children attend Ava High School.

One other point. After being “schooled” by one of the foremost legal and press experts in the country by a legal scholar located in Kansas City, it is my opinion that at least in the past, the board has skipped around the “Sunshine Law” in Missouri, seeming to error on the side of secrecy rather than on the side of public openness.

The intent of the Missouri Sunshine Law was passed in an attempt to open up and publicize the actions of public bodies, such as school boards. The law also supports and demands the prompt reporting of the general nature of all “closed sessions,” and what votes were taken, and by which board members.

Roger Wall

            Vera Cruz