R-J seeks probe of possible district meeting violation

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is asking state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to investigate a possible open meeting law violation by the Clark County School District.

The school district denied the newspaper's requests for information about budget cuts prior to a Dec. 11 School Board meeting. The School Board was scheduled to vote on cuts recommended by district staff.

The district's public information officers said the information on the recommended cuts would not be available until the start of the meeting.

But the same information was made available to School Board members and some high-ranking district employees, according to Superintendent Walt Rulffes and School Board member Terri Janison.

School Board member Ruth Johnson has also asked Rulffes to look into the "distribution of information."

"I know we've had a lot of information and have tried to stay in communication with everyone involved," Johnson said at the Dec. 11 meeting. "We want to make sure there are no discrepancies."

Nevada's open meeting law states that supporting material for a public meeting must be given to a requester if it's also being given to members of an elected board. The statute is 241.020, subsection 6B.

"The law is intended to give everyone equal information, both elected and citizen, so all can equally prepare their arguments prior to a meeting," Review-Journal Editor Thomas Mitchell said. "Limiting information limits debate."