Legal Question in Education Law in California

private school board

This is concerning the board of a

small private school. The members

apply for membership and are voted

in by the others on the board.

Currently there are 4 members.

There is no general election of board

members. My questions: (1) Is it

permissible for spouses to serve on

this type of board? The couple in

question have children in the school.

(2) Fairly often, issues are voted

upon outside of the meeting by

means of email. Recently, the budget

was circulated and members were

asked to approve it or not. There had

been considerable discussion of the

budget at the previous meeting. As a

result, the budget was revised and

circulated for approval. Is this legal,

or is it a problem concerning the

Brown Act (about which I know only

a little bit) or something else? Thank

you for your help. Susan


Asked on 9/08/08, 4:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan C. Becker Your Lawyer for Life.

Re: private school board

Susan,

Thank you for your question. While the Brown Act would prevent this type of private, out-of-session meeting- the Brown Act does not apply to private school boards. However, the School by-laws most likely address procedures for meeting, voting, etc. With regards to having two spouses make up half the board, there may be conflict issues that arise which would present a problem, however once again, the by-laws would address this. If you would like to provide some more of the background and speak to me further about this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Warmly,

Bryan Becker

619.400.4929

Read more
Answered on 9/08/08, 5:12 pm


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