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MINUTES OF MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 1975
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THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 89 OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY,
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OKLAHOMA, MET IN A REGULAR MEETING IN THE BOARD ROOM, ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
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MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1975, AT 7:00 P.M.
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PRESENT:
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Others present: Bill Lillard, Superintendent; Hugh B. Ginn, Clerk; Harry Johnson, Attorney; Geo. H. C. Green, Treasurer; Bob Livingston and Thomas Walsh, Auditors; Central Office staff members; representatives from patron and professional groups and news media, and other interested persons. (Rosters on file in office of the Clerk.)
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The meeting was called to order by Mr. English, and Mr. Cooper Parker gave the invocation.
Call to Order
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All the visitors present were welcomed by Mr. English.
Visitors Welcomed
Roll call established that all six of the Board Members were present.
Roll Call
Following roll call, Mr. Donwerth asked for permission and read a prepared statement, as follows:
Statement Mr. Donwerth
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My statement today is as one member of the Oklahoma City Board of Education; also one member of the Search Committee responsible for performing the search for a Superintendent of the Oklahoma City Public Schools, an assignment given by the Board of Education to this committee. I am also speaking as Chairman of that Search Committee. As the Committee Chairman, I was, on Friday, January 3, 1975., amazed and shocked to learn from a news story that information had been released regarding the applications for the position of Superintendent. The Board of Education by its formal action approved statements in a brochure which was sent to all applicants and included the following statement.
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"All applications will be kept confidential by the Search Committee except for those determined to be finalists who are to be interviewed by the Advisory Committees. Confidentiality of applicants will be released only with the applicant's permission, but will be necessary as the final part of the selection process."
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The Oklahoma City Board of Education and the Search Committee explicitly agreed that all material and response from all applicants would be kept in complete confidence, thus protecting the person who applied. By a release of the nature thai._was made last Friday, there is no way to measure the harm, the professional harm, that might have been done to any one of the applicants whose names were revealed. As Chairman of this committee, I will assure you that I will continue to abide by the original agreement made by this Board and by this committee that all applicants will be protected and that information will be released only by the Committee through its Chairman and will be released to all members of the news media at one time, and not the one paper alone.
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At this time . I emphatically state that I had no part, I had no role whatsoever in making the release that .appeared last Friday, January 3> 1975It was stated in the article that two people who had access to the file released the story. Persons who have access to the Search Committee file are: Hugh B. Ginn,
Clerk of the Board; Mrs. Pat Potts, Member of this Board; Dr. Armond Start, Member of this Board; Mr. C. B. McCray, Member of this Board; Mr. Paul English, President of this Board; and myself. I will at this time ask each person who had access to the Search Committee file and the compiled list of all applicants, if they had a role in releasing the information which was printed Friday, January 3> 1975 in "the Oklahoma City evening paper.
Mr. Donwerth then proceeded to inquire of the persons named - "Did you in any way participate in releasing the information that appeared in the newspaper. Friday, January 3, 1975?"
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Responses were as follows:
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' Mr. Ginn - No sir, I did not.
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Paul English, President Herbert Krob, Vice President Floyd Donwerth, Member C. B. McCray, Member Mrs. Pat Potts, Member Armond Start, Member
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Mrs. Potts - Absolutely not.
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