BOARD PRESIDENT REVISES AGENDA FOR MONDAY'S CLOSED MEETING

Cape Girardeau's Board of Education will discuss Superintendent Neyland Clark's performance at its closed meeting Monday.

Board President Ed Thompson Friday revised the agenda for the noon meeting. On Thursday, Thompson said he called the special meeting to give board members a chance to discuss issues and concerns raised by a group of school patrons who are circulating petitions calling for Clark's resignation.

But Thompson changed the agenda Friday after a Southeast Missourian reporter questioned the legality of the closed meeting under Missouri's open meetings law.

Thompson then contacted officials with the Missouri School Boards Association, before he changed the agenda, which now says the board will discuss the possibility of hiring, firing or disciplining Clark, in accordance with the law.

"The discussion must relate to the performance or the merit of the individual," Thompson said, following his discussion with the MSBA. "The only way we can discuss the petition is if it pertains to Dr. Clark's performance."

The meeting will be called to order in open session before a vote is taken to close it. Following the closed meeting, Thompson said he plans to make a statement.

Missouri's open meetings law requires that meetings of governmental bodies, like school boards, be open to the public. The law sets out specific exceptions when meetings may be closed to the public.

One exception is for hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting particular employees when personal information about the employee is discussed or recorded. The term "personal information" relates to the employee's performance or merit.

Any vote on a final decision to hire, fire, promote or discipline an employee must be made available to the public within 72 hours of the close of the meeting, provided the employee has been notified of the decision.