Issue
In Opinion No. 07-106, the California Attorney General was asked to opine on whether a high school district Superintendent could prohibit a district employee from attending a public school board meeting, and further, whether the Superintendent could prohibit the employee from speaking during the public comment period of the meeting regarding his demotion (from assistant principal to a teaching position).
The Attorney General opined that the Superintendent could neither deny the employee from attending the meeting, nor from commenting on his demotion at the meeting.
Attorney General Opinion
The Ralph M. Brown Act (“Brown Act”) requires public agencies in California to conduct their business and deliberate in meetings open to the public. Further, the Brown Act provides that agencies may not require members of the public “to fulfill any condition” in order to attend a meeting. “The statutes make no exception for the local agency’s own employees, and none may be implied,” the Attorney General opined, considering that the law must be liberally interpreted in favor of openness. Further, the Superintendent’s employment authority over the employee does not extend to prohibiting the employee, on his own time, from attending public meetings.
The Brown Act also clearly provides for the opportunity for public comment on any issue under the board’s subject matter jurisdiction. The staffing of key administrative positions within a school district is of significant public interest. The Brown Act protects the rights of members of the public to comment on such issues at public meetings, and does not allow for the limitation of those rights as they apply to district appointees, the Attorney General said.
The Superintendent therefore could not legally prohibit the employee from attending the meeting, nor from commenting on his demotion at the meeting.