School Board FOI Hearing Postponed

By John Voket

A Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission hearing involving the Newtown Board of Education in an appeal filed by school board Vice Chair Kathryn Fetchick, which was originally scheduled for Friday, June 25, has been postponed.

According to a state FOIC spokesperson, although the commission dispatched a notice via registered mail to the school district June 6 through the Harford Post office notifying members of the school board about the planned hearing, that notice was not delivered to Newtown until June 23.

As a result, the commission has granted a postponement to allow the school district to prepare any defense, and to schedule whatever necessary members who might be required to attend the hearing, which will now be held on July 30 at 11 am.

The Newtown Bee first reported the appeal last week, when the paper received a copy of a complaint lodged by Ms Fetchick against the rest of the board.

In the complaint, Ms Fetchick stated that the board and in her capacity as its chair, Lillian Bittman, permitted part of a closed executive session to transpire during which an evaluation and criticism of Ms Fetchick’s performance and actions as a board member were the sole matter of business.

In the appeal of the meeting, Ms Fetchick points out that the FOI statute permits closed meetings to be held to evaluate the performance of “a public officer or employee,” but not if that individual requests the discussion to be held at an open meeting. Once that request is made, an open meeting is required.

Ms Fetchick contends in the appeal that once it became clear to her that the closed meeting was being held to criticize her performance solely, she requested the “evaluation” be moved to a public venue, but that request was not honored by Ms Bittman.

Ms Fetchick also contends that another part of the statute may have been violated. The appeal states that School Superintendent Janet Robinson was permitted to remain in the closed session after she provided input on other appropriate matters, even though she had no business regarding, and did not participate in, the criticism of Ms Fetchick’s performance.

The appeal also calls into question the lack of detail she believes is required to appear on proposed agendas for the meeting in question, to more transparently qualify the need for so-called “personnel” and “negotiation” discussions that were planned to be held in secret.

A copy of an agenda to the April 6 school board meeting, which spawned Ms Fetchick’s FOI appeal, reflected no explanation or justification for any of the closed session matters. On the night of the meeting, Ms Fetchick indicated that discussions regarding both personnel and contract negotiations occurred, but upon conclusion of those matters fellow board members Richard Gains and David Nanavaty launched into a “critical evaluation of” Ms Fetchick’s performance on the board.

In a written response for comment on the matter, Ms Fetchick told The Bee, “As a member of the Board of Education, I have always taken my position very seriously. I was elected to the Board of Education to represent my constituents.

“As a board member, I feel it is important to be respectful, to listen carefully, and to be able to communicate freely with the public. Policies and laws are in place to aid and guide us in carrying out our duties.”

Ms Fetchick concluded, saying, “In this case, I feel there was no respect shown to me as a fellow board member and that my rights as an official were violated.”