The Mississippi Open Meeting Act was developed by legislators to ensure that all public bodies, state and local, hold open meetings on public matters. The Ethics Commission is given authority to hold hearings and issue orders subsequent to complaints alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act. School administrators should know about notices, agendas, and executive sessions in regards to the Mississippi open Meetings Act.
The act’s first important point that a school administrator should know is that notice of any meetings shall be provided at least five days in advance of the date scheduled for the meeting. The notice shall include the date, time, place and purpose for the meeting and shall identify all locations for the meeting available to the general public. All persons attending the meeting at any of the public meeting locations shall be afforded the same opportunity to address the public body as persons attending the primary or central location. There are different types of meetings. They include regular, special, emergency, rescheduled and reconvened meetings. Public notice
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School board business is public business and all official board action should be taken in open session. Personnel matters, matters affecting a student, discussions of confidential financial data, discussions of negotiations, and matter relating to the security of the board or the school are reasons for the school board to go into an executive session. The consultation with an attorney for the board, which would be deemed, privileged in the attorney-client relationship is another reason to go into an executive