Education task force says meetings will follow Nevada law and be open

Co-chair Dan Klaich said he and co-chair Elaine Wynn decided that all meetings of the 28-member task force will be conducted according to the law.

As chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, Klaich said he is familiar with the open meeting law requirements, but for people in private industry such as Wynn, a casino executive, the open meeting law “is as foreign as it can be.”

Klaich said he has agreed to police the task force meetings and make sure the law is followed.

“We are going to have agendas, post them, allow public comments at the meeting, compile minutes and record everything,” Klaich said.

His statements are expected to end a two-week furor that led to the American Civil Liberties Union hinting it might sue Gov. Jim Gibbons and the task force if the law were not followed.

“If they are going to follow the open meeting law there is no need for litigation,” said Maggie McLetchie, an ACLU lawyer and interim Southern Nevada director. “Public education is certainly the people’s business.”

The Gibbons administration left it up to the co-chairs to decide whether to follow the open meeting law. An attorney general’s opinion found that the task force was not a public body and therefore did not have to follow that law. McLetchie, however, questioned the attorney general’s opinion.

State Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said on Friday that she would not attend meetings if the task force did not follow the open meeting law. She is a member of the task force.

Klaich said earlier that the group would have open meetings, but Wynn, through a spokeswoman, said the open meeting law would not be followed.

However, Klaich said lawyers on his staff have informed him of the steps that must be taken to follow the law.

“We are going to take responsibility on our side,” Klaich said.

The task force was directed by Gibbons to assist the state in preparing an application for a $175 million federal Race to the Top education grant.

In addition, it will come up with recommendations on how to improve education. Gibbons said he would include the ideas in the budget he will present to the Legislature for the 2011 session.

The task force will hold its next meeting at 10 a.m. April 9 at the Stan Fulton Building at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

An earlier organizational meeting was conducted behind closed doors at Wynn Las Vegas.