Is a school board retreat required to be open to the public?

Answer

The Brown Act, Govt. Code section 54950 et seq., generally requires that all “meetings” of a covered board, such as a local school board, conduct its meetings in a manner that is publicly noticed and agendized and open to the public both to attend and to address the board during the meeting. The Brown Act will thus require that members of the public be permitted to attend and address the board at the retreat if the retreat is considered a “meeting.”

The Brown Act defines “meeting” broadly to include “any congregation of a majority of the members of a legislative body at the same time and place to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body or the local agency to which it pertains.” Govt. Code section 54952.2. Thus, the retreat will be a “meeting” to which the agenda, notice, and public attendance and comment requirements will apply if the board will deliberate upon any item within its subject matter jurisdiction — something that I imagine is likely to happen.

Govt. Code section 54952.2(c) sets forth certain types of physical gatherings that will not be considered “meetings” such as the attendance of a majority of the members at a conference that is otherwise open to the public, or at public meeting that was organized by someone else, or at any open meeting of another agency, or at a purely social or ceremonial occasion (provided that at such an occasion the members do not discuss agency business). But a retreat is not per se within one of these exceptions. Indeed, to the extent the retreat is a purposeful effort to provide the board with the opportunity to have a focused and extended discussion of matters before it, or procedures for approaching matters before it, such a gathering would seem to fall directly in the definition of “meeting.”

Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to First Amendment Coalition hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.