McGoffin: Lafayette Parish School Board Hypocritical

Lafayette attorney Gary McGoffin called the actions of the Lafayette Parish School Board hypocritical and chastised the board for another alleged violation of the state's open meetings laws.

McGoffin filed two complaints against the school board--one with the 15th Judicial District Attorney's Office and another with the office of the Louisiana Attorney General.

"This school board seems very intent upon enforcing its policies with regard to the superintendent, but they don't follow the policies themselves, and now they're not following state law," McGoffin said on "Nathan & Bernie in the Morning."

At an April 23 special meeting, board members were set to vote on a resolution that expressed their opposition to pieces of legislation aimed at Lafayette Parish filed in the legislature by state Rep. Nancy Landry. The board voted to amend that resolution, adding another piece of legislation from state Rep. Vincent Pierre.

McGoffin said amending the resolution was a violation of the state's open meetings laws because there was no public notice for the amendment and because changes to the agenda must be approved unanimously. Board members voted 6-2 to amend the resolution, though McGoffin said the vote "did not occur" because "there was never a motion to amend the agenda. They went straight to the vote on the amendment that was offered."

Board member Greg Awbrey, who called during KPEL's "Wingin' It Wednesday" segment, said they still have yet to receive any official notice from the district attorney's office, and the board revised the resolution on the advice of its general counsel received before the meeting.

"[The general counsel] described it as a change like you would amend a contract," Awbrey said. "If you can't add things or revise resolutions, it would be the same as saying if you had a contract that was up for discussion, couldn't make any changes during the discussion."

To listen to the full interview with McGoffin, click on the 'Play' button below.