Members of the State Board of Education Nominating and Recruiting Committee plan to interview candidates to run for the the state board, which sets education policy. Committee chair and former legislator Jeff Alexander said at the committee's previous meeting Friday (which was open to the public) that he wasn't sure whether today's meeting would be open.
On Wednesday, however, Alexander said he decided not to consult the attorney general's office and instead just keep the meeting open.
Alexander decided to open Friday's meeting after it was brought to his attention that a section of Utah law seems to prohibit closing such meetings.
Some educators and officials have worried that if the committee closes its meetings, it could manipulate the process to choose only one type of candidate, such as those who support vouchers.
So far, 35 people have filed to run for seven seats. The committee must choose three to five of those candidates for each seat and forward those names to the governor, who will narrow the number to two for each seat.
* Today's state school board nominating committee meeting is at 9 a.m. in the Cal Rampton Board Room at the state Capitol.
* The committee will continue interviews Friday at 8:30 a.m. in the same place.
* On June 2 at 10 a.m., the committee will meet to begin discussions and voting, also open to the public.
