SALEM — Five members of the Grant School Board will be given letters of education by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which determined that the school board held an improper closed-door session last summer.

The letters are part of a negotiated settlement, approved by the ethics panel on Friday, May 20, that ends a state investigation into the matter.

The issue was whether the five school board members who participated in the executive session may have violated the state law that governs how meetings of public bodies should be conducted.

The ethics commission’s ruling, which came in response to a complaint filed by the Blue Mountain Eagle, found that the school board members had broken the law by exceeding the legal scope of a legitimate executive session on Aug. 19.

State law allows public bodies such as the school board to go into executive session — where the public is barred and reporters are instructed not to report on the proceedings — only in certain narrowly defined circumstances.

The board had initially scheduled a public meeting for that day to discuss requirements for returning to in-person schooling, including Gov. Kate Brown’s order that all educators, school staff and volunteers be vaccinated against COVID-19. That meeting was canceled seven hours before its scheduled start time and replaced with an executive session “to discuss confidential information.”

Based on a reporter’s observation of the proceedings, the Eagle believed the school board’s discussion during the executive session far exceeded the legal basis it cited for the closed-door meeting. When the newspaper informed Grant School Superintendent Bret Uptmor and School Board Chair Haley Walker of this view, Uptmor defended the board’s actions and demanded that the Eagle not print any information from the executive session.

The ethics commission found that during the Grant School Board’s executive session, the five members present discussed some matters that were exempt from public disclosure. However, the discussion also included policy matters that were not exempt.

“The board also began discussing district policies and how to implement them, as well as how to communicate those policies to staff and the public. This part of the discussion appears to have exceeded the scope authorized,” the ethics commission report on the matter said.

The board members agreed to written final orders that stipulated they had violated the open meetings law by holding an improper executive session.Grant School Board Chair Haley Walker declined to comment on the settlement, saying she had not had a chance to review the final stipulated order.

In addition to Walker, the school board members covered by the agreement are Aaron Lieuallen, Colleen Robertson, Chris Labhart and Jake Taylor. All five will receive letters of education from the state. Board member Kelly Stokes was not present at the executive session and was not disciplined by the state.