Hennessey school board member Luke Lough said he was “not comfortable” going into executive session during the board’s July 13 meeting.

He voted not to have the closed session on personnel, and left the meeting after the 3-1 vote.

“I have no problem with it in open (to the public) sessions,” Lough said.

His problem was not that board Vice President Joe Garrison could attend the closed session virtually, but who else might be able to listen in to those meetings.

“Should we be doing that when we don’t know what’s on the other side of the camera?” Lough questioned in a phone interview with the Times & Free Press after the meeting.

Lough said he trusts Garrison and his family “but I’m concerned about the Zoom product. I don’t know if it’s not secure, but who is in control of that?”

The school has a license with Zoom and the ability to set up security that requires participants to be “admitted” to the meeting, said the school’s attorney, Phyllis Walta of Walta and Walta, Hennessey, who quoted Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods.

“I just questioned it to stimulate discussion by board members going for ward,” said Lough “Maybe we have no control over it, but I don’t know. I just don’t want to assume.”

“I totally understand his concerns,” said Walta, “because we have had some notable gaffes in the state, especially with a State Board of Education meeting which was held by Zoom. Hackers were able to break into the meeting.”

A temporary change in the state Open Meeting Law due to the pandemic allows board members, and others, to attend meetings virtually.

Elementary school Principal Barry Crosswhite and Athletic Director Paul Hix attended the May school board meeting on Zoom.

Garrison missed the May meeting due to surgery and during his June and July recovery has attended meetings at home via Zoom.

Hennessey’s Board of Trustees also held a virtual meeting earlier this year, and news reporters also attended that Zoom meeting which did not include an executive session.

“We are in uncharted territory with an international pandemic and a state of emergency,” said Walta.

“Executive sessions are confidential and we certainly want to make sure the sanctity of the executive session is preserved,” she said, “but, that risk is balanced against the risk of exposure of board members and participants to the coronavirus.”

The Open Meeting Act amendment expires this Nov. 15, or when the state of emergency is over.

“Hopefully by then we will be close to a vaccine, and the end of the necessity for remote video meetings,” said Walta.

The temporary open meeting law also requires members off-site be listed on the agenda both at the start of the meeting, and the executive session.

Garrison wasn’t included in the June closed session because he wasn’t listed on that item.

The superintendent said Walta caught that error after the agenda was posted.