Brown Act still mandated for schools
2 options for reimbursement of open-meeting costs
Published: August 14, 2012
Recent reports on state budget actions relating to the Ralph M. Brown Act have erroneously stated that the open-meeting requirement was suspended for all local governments for three years. While that is true for cities and counties, it does not apply to school districts and county offices of education—the requirement is still in place for them.
The state Legislature did defer funding for the mandate, as has been the past practice for all school-related mandates; however, this is not the same as suspending it. The Brown Act was included in the mandate block grant for districts and county offices, so there are two options for seeking reimbursement: accept the block grant or file a claim through the traditional claiming process. The bottom line for districts and county boards is that compliance with the mandate is still required, and they can seek reimbursement for associated costs.
CSBA’s publication “The Brown Act” offers guidance for local boards on complying with the Brown Act and other open-meeting laws. It’s available from the CSBA Store for $15.95 plus tax and shipping: http://connect.csba.org/store.