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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here's some evidence that the Open Meetings Act is
taken seriously in some quarters. In BSBP, it remains a huge question
mark. PA260 of 1978 and the BEP promulgated rules tie the Agency and
the EOC to the OMA precisely because of the actions of BEP officials in the
1970s who treated EOC meetings as closed and even blocked interested operators
outside of the Committee from attending its meetings.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Don't let the worst of the old days come back to
bite us.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=joeharcz@comcast.net href="mailto:joeharcz@comcast.net">joe harcz
Comcast</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 13, 2012 7:26</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> sound familiar?</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Judge: Charter violated rules H.
Park school operator in breach of Meetings Act By Shawn D. Lewis The Detroit
News Comments . Highland Park - A judge has<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">ruled that the Highland Park
charter schools system is in violation of the state's Open Meetings Act for
failing to notify a district board member about<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">meetings and not releasing other
information. Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. ruled Friday in
favor of Highland Park school board secretary<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Robert Davis, who filed the
lawsuit against the charter system managed by the Leona Group LLC. The judge
said the defendants violated the law by failing<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">to make available minutes of
meetings held by the three-member board installed when Leona took over the
district's new charter system this past summer.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Colombo said the charter system
is to make the meeting minutes available for public inspection at Highland Park
Renaissance High School, where the board<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">meets. The judge also ruled the
defendants violated the act by not informing Davis of future public meetings.
Davis said his requests for information regarding<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">public board meetings were
consistently ignored. You have certain administrators within the organization
who are purposely withholding information," he<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">said. A spokeswoman for the Leona
Group said Monday the charter operator needed to consult its attorney before
responding. But she did provide information<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">about board meeting agendas. The
board meeting schedule for the 2012-13 school year, past agendas and minutes
through August are now posted to the board<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">page," said Mary Marshall.
Agendas and minutes for September and October will be posted when they are
provided to Leona's webmaster, Marshall said.
slewis@detroitnews.com<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">(313) 222-2296 </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>