SOUTH HADLEY — A subcommittee of a South Hadley charter school’s board of trustees violated the state Open Meeting Law by using email to deliberate during its investigation into former head of school Scott Goldman, the state attorney general’s office recently ruled.
The office ruled that a newly formed Grievance Subcommittee at the Performing Arts Charter Public School violated the law by exchanging emails outside a public meeting that deliberated on the status of Goldman’s interim replacement.
Attorney David Monastersky filed two complaints with the PVPA board on or about May 16. Both alleged the board violated the Open Meeting Law, one claiming board member Jim Barnhill violated the law when he passed a note to the board’s attorney James Donnelley during a May 9 meeting, and another for deliberating by email days after the meeting.
“Because a quorum of the Grievance Committee engaged in a discussion by email about a topic subsequently decided upon two days later, the Board’s Grievance Committee violated the Open Meeting Law,” wrote Hanne Rush, assistant attorney general for the Division of Open Government. “We order the Board to publicly release the emails at issue within 30 days of receipt of this determination, if it has not already done so.”
Rush’s report determined Barnhill had not violated Open Meeting Laws in passing the note.
In a statement released Monday, the PVPA board of trustees emphasized that the attorney general’s determination found no merit to any of Monastersky’s complaints, which he made against the Select Board. “The Attorney General’s Determination confuses the actions of our Board officers at the time with the role of the Grievance Subcommittee, which was comprised of many of the same people,” the statement said.
Trustee president Melinda Winter said the board plans to respond to the attorney general’s report, but will not appeal. On Jan. 15, the board published the email chain that qualified as deliberation on the school’s website. “Unfortunately we are a very small board, and it wasn’t actually the Grievance Committee that was discussing the interim leadership plans. That was the executive committee discussing what to do,” Winter said.
As defined by the 2009 Open Meeting law, to qualify as deliberation the majority, or quorum, of a public body must be involved in the communications. Therefore, email exchanges between the 15-member board of trustees did not count as deliberation, but those among the six-member Grievance Subcommittee did.
Geoff Sumi left his role as trustee president on Dec. 31 unrelated to the investigation, Winter said. Winter assumed the role of president on Jan 1.
The board formed the Grievance Committee at the May 9 meeting to address complaints against Goldman. It included Sumi, treasurer Deborah Jacobson, and clerk Rachel Dionne, and members Jim Barnhill, Zevey Steinitz and Donovan Arthen.
At that meeting, Goldman “aired the dirty laundry,” according to Monastersky, in a 40-minute speech, also submitted in writing to board prior to the meeting. Among the issues raised by Goldman were the allegations against him, drug abuse among faculty, illegitimate grading policies, misuse of funds and non-compliance with special education requirements.
“If Mr. Goldman did not address these issues, it would have led to rampant speculation,” Monastersky said. “And in this day and age people think the worst.”
Monastersky says the matter is a First Amendment issue.
“This is further evidence that supports my belief and (Goldman’s) belief that there were retaliatory actions taken against Mr. Goldman for his exercising of his First Amendment rights of free speech,” Monastersky said. “I anticipate in the near future we will be taking certain actions.”
On April 28, school faculty and staff filed two petitions with the board requesting Goldman be removed from his position. Three teachers filed grievances against Goldman soon after, claiming he promoted an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
In fall 2016, Goldman announced he would leave his role as head of the school after serving as head of the school for six years. The board only decided to place Goldman on paid leave after he addressed allegations against him, Monastersky said, making the matter an issue of retaliation. Goldman was also barred from attending the 2017 graduation ceremony.
According to a May 11 email from Sumi to Barnhill and two other officers published in the report, a disciplinary matter regarding a student put pressure on the board to hasten its decision on an interim plan.
“There is a real crisis developing at the school around a student’s discipline,” Sumi wrote in an email published in the report. “The mother has complained to the [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education]… We need to approve the interim plan in order for the admin team to deal with this issue…”
At a May 12 meeting, the Grievance Committee appointed an outside investigator to look into the petitions and grievances against Goldman, extended Goldman’s paid leave until June 6, and approved a proposal from the school’s administration to distribute his responsibilities among school employees. Monastersky takes issue with the private investigation, saying it was not thorough and failed to look into the petitions against Goldman.
Winter said the board will be more conscious of its email communications in the future, and all board members will review a copy of the state’s Open Meeting Guide.
http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/PioneerValleryPACPS/PioneerValleryPACPS/Departments/DocumentsCategories/Documents/_Interim_head_of_school_plan_thoughts.pdf