A school district that once secretly videotaped one of its classroom teachers is now questioning Everett School board member Jessica Olson’s right to videotape public meetings and her interactions with school district staff.
Tuesday, Olson’s four fellow school board members expect to vote on whether to air an attorney’s opinion on the legality of the videotaping.
The issue arose last month after some on the board complained. They asked for a legal analysis.
Valerie Hughes, the Seattle attorney who advises the school district, responded with a five-page legal opinion sent to board members marked as confidential.
Olson provided The Herald with a copy of Hughes’ report. It merely recounts state law and quotes from advisory opinions from the state Attorney General’s Office, some of which already can be read online.
The school board is scheduled to discuss whether to make the document public in a meeting that begins at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The meetings is at the Educational Service Center, 4730 Colby Ave.
Hughes’ legal opinion notes there is nothing to keep anyone from creating videotapes or audiotapes of public meetings. She added, however, “At least some members of the public surely would be unhappy about videotaping.”
Private conversations cannot be recorded without first getting the permission of all those involved in the conversation, Hughes wrote.
Olson said she’s followed the law.
“Before reading any advice from Everett School District attorney Valerie Hughes, it should be kept in mind that this is the same attorney who advised the school district it would be okay to install hidden cameras in the ceiling to spy on teacher Kay Powers,” she said in a prepared statement.
Olson was referring to a costly flap from three years ago involving the Cascade High School teacher. School district leaders used a hidden camera as part of an attorney-supervised investigation of the former English teacher.
The camera was secretly installed to determine what Powers and students were doing nights and weekends in her classroom. By then, the district’s investigation had found Powers was ignoring the rules and using district resources for an underground student newspaper.
The controversy over Olson’s recordings arose when school board member Carol Andrews raised questions over Olson’s videotaping of a June 24 meeting. The meeting at school district offices was attended by Andrews and Jennifer Farmer, the school district’s purchasing director.
In a July written statement, Andrews acknowledged that Olson announced that she would be video recording the meeting.
Andrews says she was “a bit taken back” by the announcement, but since Olson videotapes all board sessions, it was not a total surprise. “In retrospect, I very much regret my decision to allow the recording,” she said.
The school board asked for a legal opinion on whether the public should be notified that the board meetings are being videotaped, whether the tape is a public record, and whether it’s legal for a board member to videotape a meeting with one or more school district staff.
Olson said that the videotaping isn’t meant to intimidate staff, but instead is intended to document what occurred.
In the past, district staff have sometimes summarized their meetings with Olson in e-mails sent to Superintendent Gary Cohn. The messages are later passed along to school board members. Olson has characterized the accounts as one-sided; in some she’s been accused of bullying.
Olson has had a stormy relationship with her four fellow board members since her election to the school board in November 2009.
She ran on a platform of bringing more openness to the school board. Her methods of doing this, however, often have brought her into sharp conflict with fellow board members.
She is politically isolated, rarely getting a second to motions she makes at school board meetings. That makes it difficult for Olson to do more than comment and vote on proposed actions or policies rather than being able to suggest changes.
Olson frequently posts background information on school board issues on her personal Facebook page.
Earlier this year, Olson posted information on a proposed land deal involving the school district that would have allowed Washington State University to start a branch campus in Everett. The move figured into the school board’s censure of Olson.
Although the censure carries no legal weight, each board member was allowed to publicly criticize her. Olson insisted that their criticisms, though stinging, be aired in public rather than behind closed doors.
The formal document censuring Olson accused her of intimidating fellow board members, publicly airing false and misleading statements to discredit the superintendent without any evidence of wrongdoing, and “repeated and blatant disregard for state law, board policy and board protocols.”
Olson said she’s simply trying to inform the public on pending school board actions.
Last year, the Washington Coalition for Open Government gave Olson its Key Award in recognition of her work to make government in Washington open and accountable to the public.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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