Do Rhode Islanders have the right to see how school policy is shaped behind the scenes?
That’s the simple but essential question the Rhode Island Supreme Court will grapple with on Tuesday in a critical government transparency case brought by the Goldwater Institute, which aims to ensure that public business is no longer conducted behind closed doors and parents are not kept in the dark about critical issues affecting their kids.
The case could redefine how the state’s Open Meetings Act applies to advisory bodies and contractors performing public functions—particularly in public education. This will be the eighth state supreme court in which Goldwater attorneys have stood up for individual rights and government transparency and accountability.
Tuesday’s hearing stems from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the Goldwater Institute on behalf of Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas. Nicole sued the South Kingstown School Committee after she was barred from attending meetings of its publicly created and taxpayer-funded Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Advisory Board.
This board was created by the school district specifically to develop and recommend policies on critical issues affecting students—curriculum, hiring, discipline, and more. It met weekly, received public funds, and directly influenced district policy. Yet when Nicole asked to attend these meetings, she was told she could not. That denial stands in direct tension with Rhode Island’s Open Meetings Act.
Rhode Island’s Open Meetings Act requires government transparency. It declares that “public business be performed in an open and public manner” and that citizens be informed of “the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy.” The Act applies to every meeting of any “public body”—defined as any group convened to discuss or act on matters over which it holds “advisory power.”
By any fair reading, the BIPOC Advisory Board met that definition. It was created by a public school district, funded with taxpayer dollars, and entrusted with advising on matters of profound public importance. Its recommendations shaped—and were later adopted by—the South Kingston School Committee itself.
Despite this, Nicole and the broader community were barred from its closed-door meetings.
When Nicole sued under the Open Meetings Act, the trial court sided with the district. The court acknowledged the BIPOC board exercised “advisory power” but concluded the Open Meetings Act nevertheless did not apply. It went further, reasoning that the board was not a public body because the school district had contracted with a private entity to facilitate its work.
If that ruling stands, it would fundamentally undermine Rhode Island’s transparency laws. Public bodies could evade the Open Meetings Act simply by outsourcing public functions to private contractors—an end run around open government that the legislature never intended.
Now, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has the opportunity to correct course. The Court can reaffirm that when a group is publicly created, publicly funded, and charged with advising on matters of public consequence, its meetings must be open to the public. It can also make clear that government transparency obligations do not vanish because a public body chooses to hire a private facilitator.
The Court’s decision will determine whether advisory boards and contractor-run policy groups must operate in the sunshine—or whether they can remain behind closed doors, beyond the view of parents and citizens. And ultimately, it will decide whether the public retains its rightful place in observing and participating in the policy decisions that shape education for Rhode Island’s students.
Click here to access court documents and read more about the case.
The Goldwater Institute is the nation’s preeminent liberty organization, scoring real wins for freedom from coast to coast. We’re committed to empowering all Americans to live freer, happier lives, and we accomplish tangible results for liberty by working in state courts, legislatures, and communities nationwide to advance, defend, and strengthen the freedom guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States and the fifty states.
Jon Riches is the Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute.
