Nicole Solas v. South Kingstown School Committee

Syllabus

The plaintiff, Nicole Solas, appealed from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendant, the South Kingstown School Committee. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Advisory Board (the Board) was not holding open meetings in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA), G.L. 1956 § 42-46-3. The plaintiff relied on this Court's holding in Solas v. Emergency Council Hiring of the State, 774 A.2d 820 (R.I. 2001), to argue that the Board was a \public body\ and, therefore, was required to open its meetings to the public, pursuant to the act. The Supreme Court concluded that its holding in Pontarelli v. Rhode Island Board Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, 151 A.3d 301 (R.I. 2016), controlled the outcome of the case and that the Board was not a public body subject to the OMA. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment.