VA Judge: School Board violated FOIA

Following a four-day trial, a Suffolk Circuit Court judge found that the Suffolk School Board and the majority of its members violated the Freedom of Information Act with regard to meeting notices, vague closed-meeting motions and certifications of closed meetings.

Judge Carl Eason Jr. ruled July 16 that the board — including Chairwoman Phyllis Byrum, Vice Chairwoman Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck, Lorita Mayo, Tyron Riddick and Karen Jenkins, who were all named as defendants in the lawsuit — did not provide proper notice of public meetings and ruled that the motions to go into closed meetings were too vague and that the certifications of closed meetings were “not sufficient.” (Read more).