Idaho’s Board of Education says it will not reconsider whether the University of Idaho should be allowed to buy the for-profit college, University of Phoenix.
The board on Friday refused a request by Attorney General Raul Labrador. He has threatened to sue over what he contends are violations of public meetings law. He says the board held three closed door executive sessions this spring to talk about the Moscow school’s plan to buy the University of Phoenix for $550 million. But he says the board never gave the public a chance to comment before endorsing the purchase.
Attorneys for the board argue the panel was exempt from public meetings requirements because it was discussing ongoing negotiations.
Labrador said he would forgo the lawsuit if the board went back and had those discussions again in public.
But the board decided during a special meeting Friday that it had acted properly. Afterward, board President Linda Clark read a short statement: “The attorneys engaged in this transaction determined that the exemption applied. Even now, with the benefit of hindsight and analysis, we believe the exemption applies. Therefore, no violation occurred and no cure is necessary.”
That’s legal-speak for “we don’t need to do anything over.”
If Labrador sues, the board says it plans to hire an outside attorney, rather than be represented by the attorney general’s office. And it plans to ask Labrador’s office to pay its legal costs.
