The Boulder Monitor v. Jefferson High School District No. 1

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court reversed summary judgment entered for The Boulder Monitor in an action alleging that a Jefferson High School District budget subcommittee meeting violated Montana’s open-meeting and public-participation laws. The Court held that genuine issues of material fact remained regarding the participants’ roles and what occurred at the meeting, and that the presence of a fourth school board member did not, by itself, transform the subcommittee meeting into a meeting of the full board. The case was remanded for further proceedings, and the award of attorney fees was also reversed.

Holdings

1. The District Court erred by granting summary judgment because the record contained genuine disputes of material fact concerning the fourth Board member's role, the subcommittee's actions, and whether the subcommittee reduced the field of principal candidates.
2. The mere presence of a fourth School Board member at a meeting of the three-member budget subcommittee, including asking questions and observing the meeting, did not transform the subcommittee meeting into a meeting of a quorum of the full School Board under the open-meeting statutes.
3. Because the order granting summary judgment was reversed, the District Court's related award of attorney fees to the Boulder Monitor was also improper.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the District Court improperly granted summary judgment by resolving disputed material facts concerning the fourth School Board member's participation and whether the subcommittee reduced the number of principal candidates.
2. Whether the presence and questioning of a fourth School Board member at a properly noticed sub-quorum subcommittee meeting transformed the meeting into a meeting of a quorum of the full School Board under Montana's open-meeting statutes.
3. Whether the award of attorney fees to the Boulder Monitor could stand after reversal of summary judgment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded