Secret 15 to 20 minute meeting held February 18 on the safety issue with no information made public afterwards: Should students and the public be worried?
The Yavapai Community College Governing Board’s first order of business at its February 18 meeting was to call a secret executive session to discuss “Facility Safety and Security Measures.” Only three of the five Governing Board members attended the secret meeting in addition to College president Dr. Lisa Rhine.
The closed-door session, allegedly “ hosted” by Rhine, lasted approximately 15 minutes and the topic was “facility safety.” When the attendees emerged from the session, they were smiling. However, not a word was uttered about the supposed campus safety claim being made by Chair Deb McCasland.
Notably, before Tuesday’s Board meeting, McCasland claimed in an email sent to the Governing Board members that she had learned of “safety concerns related to our board meetings.” The concerns, whatever they were, appeared so serious to her that she switched the February 18 live meeting from the Rock House on the Prescott Campus to one on zoom.
Despite the change, McCasland has continued to withhold from the public any information about the alleged safety concerns.
Deepening the mystery, at least two District Governing Board members had sought an explanation or evidence from McCasland to substantiate her safety concern claim prior to Tuesday’s secret executive meeting. Yet, even when directly asked via email by them for facts, she rejected the request.
The entire mystery surrounding the public facility safety claim isn’t just unusual—it’s deeply unsettling to students at Yavapai Community College and the public.