Lincoln County School Board Members Allegedly Broke the Tennessee Sunshine Law

According to the Elk Times, two Lincoln County Board of Education members have broken Tennessee’s Sunshine Law over a discussion on email about a new director of schools. In October, the full board approved a search committee consisting of five board members. The board had received ten applications, which resulted in five being selected at a meeting on December 9th and was confirmed at a later meeting of the full board. The alleged violation occurred the day of the meeting on December 9th and continued until the interview meetings on December 16th and 18th. The emails included discussing the characteristics of applicants and worrying about what fellow board members thought about the decisions made. Under Tennessee law, it is required to speak about public matters in public. This is specifically for discussing a publicly announced meeting outside of that meeting or setting. When discussing details in the public meeting over email, it is considered a probable violation of the open meeting laws. Former Lawrence County Director of Schools and now Lincoln County Director of Schools, Dr. Bill Heath, felt it is disheartening to have elected officials violate the open meeting law. According to Heath, the Tennessee School Board Association offers training to all school board members, and they frequently discuss the opening meetings statute. Heath said, “In the last election the word transparency was brought up several times. This makes it even more disappointing from my seat”. The decision on how to proceed will be made by a subsequent vote.