Boundary Change Effects

The paragraph below is from School Choice Reasons which prompted various feedback including the string following:

According to http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121709dnplboundaries.414ffdb.html the Plano ISD Board made a unanimous decision on school boundary changes in a series of closed door meetings that were not open to the public but had less than a quorum present. Several years ago, the Texas Attorney General's Staff taught a course for Economic Development Board Members in which I was a student. At that training session I asked specifically about holding closed meetings with less than a quorum in each meeting to discuss difficult issues. The strong response to my question was that this is illegal because it has the cumulative effect of a quorum; however, the Dallas Morning News stated that what was done is within the letter of the law; therefore, it is possible at that training session there was some misunderstanding, miscommunication, or the law may have changed due to court rulings. This type of thing is why we need School Choice.

About the quorum, they may have had a proxy from those that were not
present.

The issue is that any Board Meeting(s) to discuss Plano ISD issues that has a quorum present must be open to the public including with sufficient public notice. However, if a quorum is not present for a meeting then it does not have to be public.

According to http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121709dnplboundaries.414ffdb.html there was a series of private meetings without a quorum present to discuss the Boundary Issues.

My understanding based on the course I attended presented by the Texas Attorney General is that this has the same effect as a single meeting with a quorum; therefore, those meetings should have been open to the public. I don't plan to pursue this any further, because there is no apparent benefit, but anyone affected has the right to bring this issue to the attention of the Texas Attorney General.

I see your point. I have no issue with the changes, however I can see this process being a problem if the issue was more serious. Thank you for shining attention to this matter.-

For some people these changes were a major issue. Ask any Plano Realtor, they will tell you that school boundaries affect property values, and for people with children in Plano ISD that suffer the changes this issue is very serious. This type of thing is why we need School Choice.

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