STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6172

July 20, 1983

OPEN MEETINGS ACT:

Conduct of school district collective bargaining negotiations in closed session

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS:

Board of education--delegation of collective bargaining to school officers and employees

The board of education of a school district may empower a bargaining committee composed of the superintendent and other school officials to conduct collective bargaining negotiations with representatives of school employees, provided that any negotiated collective bargaining agreement is subject to final approval of the board of education.

Collective bargaining negotiations managed by a committee of school officers and employees may be conducted in closed sessions.

Honorable Gilbert J. DiNello

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion on two questions, the first of which is:

A school district is a public employer under a statutory duty to bargain in good faith with the representatives of its employees concerning wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. 1947 PA 336, Sec. 15, MCLA 423.215; MSA 17.455(15); School Dist for the City of Holland v Holland Education Association, 380 Mich 314; 157 NW2d 206 (1968); Van Buren Public School Dist v Wayne Circuit Judge, 61 Mich App 6; 232 NW2d 278 (1975).

The duty to bargain in good faith does not require the members of the board of education, as the governing body of the school district, to bargain personally with representatives of employees. Rather, the board of education may delegate the authority to engage in collective bargaining on its behalf to a bargaining committee, provided that the final approval of any collective bargaining agreement is reserved to the board of education. Detroit Fire Commissioners, 5 MERC L Op 953, 957 (1970); cited with approval in Detroit Police Officers Association v City of Detroit, 391 Mich 44, 62-63; 214 NW2d 803, 812 (1974); OAG 1977-1978, No 5286, p 403 (March 31, 1978).

It is my opinion, therefore, that a board of education may delegate the authority to engage in collective bargaining on its behalf to a bargaining committee comprised of the superintendent and other school district administrators, provided that the final approval of any collective bargaining agreement is reserved to the board of education.

Your second question is:

OAG, 1977-1978, No 5286, supra, concluded that a city's advisory four-member collective bargaining committee is not a public body subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267, MCLA 15.261 et seq; MSA 4.1800(11) et seq, and, thus, the committee's negotiating sessions need not be open to the public. That rationale is equally applicable to an advisory collective bargaining committee designated by a board of education to negotiate on its behalf with representatives of its employees.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that in the event a board of education were to conduct collective bargaining negotiations itself, rather than through designated representatives, is may do so in a closed session. The Open Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267, supra, Sec. 8(c).

It is my opinion, therefore, that a bargaining committee comprised of the superintendent and other school district administrators authorized to engage in collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of a board of education with representatives of school district employees may conduct such negotiations in closed sessions.

Frank J. Kelley