JANESVILLE — A hastily called meeting of a Janesville School Board committee on Thursday violated a state statute.
“We goofed,” Superintendent Tom Evert admitted after he was made aware of the violation.
Public bodies must issue meeting notices at least 24 hours before the meeting unless there is “good cause” to give a shorter notice, which must be at least two hours in advance of the meeting.
“Good cause” generally is interpreted as an urgent need to take immediate action, said Bob Dreps, an attorney who represents members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
No such special circumstance was involved with a meeting of the board’s Buildings and Grounds/Finance Committee on Thursday night, Evert said.
Evert referred the matter to district legal counsel David Moore, who said the committee’s actions would not be voided unless the district attorney takes up the case and a court agrees that that the public interest would best be served by voiding the committee’s actions.
An e-mail giving notice of the meeting was sent at 11:06 a.m. Thursday. The meeting was set for 5 p.m.
Moore called it an inadvertent error.