Manatee School Board held a closed ‘emergency’ meeting, citing COVID-19. Was it proper?

For the first 30 minutes of their meeting on Tuesday evening, members of the Manatee County School Board debated whether they should be holding the meeting, citing new guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was a semblance of normalcy at the start. Gina Messenger called the meeting to order, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and moved forward with the agenda, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Messenger, the board chair, joined the meeting via phone, as did board member Scott Hopes and Vice Chair Charlie Kennedy. Separated by a row of empty chairs, board members Dave Miner and James Golden sat in the meeting chamber, staring into an empty audience.

Tuesday’s meeting was closed to the public. Manatee residents were expected to email or deliver their public comments, and Manatee Schools Television aired the meeting on TV and the internet.

“The board will hold emergency meetings only,” the district said on its website. “The agenda will be limited to matters that must be decided now and cannot wait.”

An agenda item — “Declaration of Emergency” — was added to the meeting agenda at some point on Tuesday afternoon, and it was unanimously approved that evening. It said the board recognized COVID-19, an illness caused by the new coronavirus, and the emergency it created in Manatee County.

“Until the emergency is declared over by State and Federal authorities, the School Board shall take all necessary steps needed to conduct essential District business in a manner that will also protect the health, safety and welfare of the public as well as District employees and officials,” it states.

Minutes later, several board members questioned whether Tuesday’s agenda included essential business, and whether it qualified as an emergency meeting. The agenda included millions of dollars in contracts related to construction and renovations at Palm View K-8 school, Sugg Middle School and Braden River Middle School.

“I’m pretty convinced this meeting shouldn’t even be taking place,” board member Scott Hopes said.

Tuesday’s agenda also included a $96,000 agreement with T-Mobile, which included 400 WiFi hotspots and service. Online classes begin on March 30 and the hotspots were needed for students.

Superintendent Cynthia Saunders usually needs board approval for purchases exceeding $50,000, but she declared an emergency need, ordered the devices last week and then included the order on Tuesday’s agenda for approval.

Even then, Hopes felt the superintendent had authority to make larger purchases during the health crisis, meeting the requirements of virtual education, and he said the agenda failed to qualify as an emergency.

Hopes pointed to a communication from the Florida Department of Education, calling it a directive. According to a news release from the department, all school board meetings through June 30 “are postponed and may only be scheduled for emergency purposes.”

He also argued that COVID-19 would affect the economy and Manatee’s future budget.

“We should be judicious in how we commit to any kind of funding,” Hopes said. “Quite frankly, none of us know what our revenues are going to be. We don’t know what our tax revenues are going to be for the 19-20 fiscal year. We should only be spending money that needs to be spent during the state of emergency.”

Kennedy disagreed with the need to postpone all board meetings through June. He said education officials later walked back their wording and called it a “strong suggestion,” but he still disagreed with the label on Tuesday’s board meeting.

The primary agenda item — approval of the district’s annual financial report — was planned weeks in advance.

“Why are we considering this an emergency board meeting?” Kennedy said. “This was a regular meeting that we had on our board calendar and have always had scheduled.”

Kennedy said the board should conduct business when necessary, doing their part to prevent further spread of COVID-19 by joining the meetings via phone and broadcasting the meetings online.

“I’m now concerned about why this is an emergency meeting since, in fact, it was a scheduled meeting noticed on a calendar, that we have had prepared from the very beginning,” board member Golden followed.

On its website, Manatee said “the board will hold emergency meetings only.” Identical language was used in a news release from district spokesman Mike Barber.

Later in the meeting, board attorney Stephen Dye concluded that Tuesday was not an “emergency meeting,” but it was still valid, he said.

“I think it would be better to characterize this as a meeting during an emergency, not an emergency meeting,” Dye said.

“An emergency meeting is a type of meeting that is called without the normal notice and other time periods you follow, and that certainly is not what this meeting is,” he continued.

Dye said the board could still schedule and advertise meetings, and they would take place under “emergency conditions,” as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“I think calling it ‘a meeting during an emergency’ is proper, and I appreciate that,” said Messenger, the board chair.

Board member Miner seemed to agree. Minutes were taken, the meeting was streamed electronically and public comments were still welcomed, he noted.

“I think each of us is entitled to their different perception of an emergency,” Miner said.

This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 9:12 PM.