Breaking News: Open Meetings Act Complaint Filed on BOE Secret Credit Card Committee

Yesterday, the Montgomery County Board of Education President Phil Kauffman announced that BOE members would stop using their MCPS credit cards while a committee discusses BOE spending. 

What committee?  When have they met? Where are the minutes of these meetings? What happened to the Maryland Open Meetings Act?  

The Parents' Coalition has asked the Open Meetings Compliance Board to look into the creation of this secret committee.  Below is the complaint that was filed on May 31, 2014. 

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May 31, 2014

Open Meetings Compliance Board
c/o Attorney General's Office
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202

Re: Open Meetings Act Complaint - Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education

To whom it may concern:

The following Complaint is filed with your office with regard to meeting procedures of the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education and an apparent violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

1. On May 22, 2014 the Washington Post published an article in which it quoted the President of the Montgomery County Board of Education Phil Kauffman as saying that he "had created an ad hoc committee April 25 to look at expense policies". Please see attached.

2. On May 25, 2014 in response to an inquiry the Board President Phil Kauffman informed me via e-mail that the three person task force he had created had its first meeting at the beginning of May. Mr. Kauffman confirmed that no public announcement was ever made about the meeting.

3. On May 29, 2014 a Board of Education staff member Suzann King notified me in a telephone conversation that the task force met on May 6, 2014 and that no minutes from the meeting were available.

As this directly impacts the ability of the public to monitor the actions of our elected Board of Education I thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Danuta Wilson