GREENFIELD — The former Greenfield School Committee violated the state’s Open Meeting Law when it met for an 11th-hour executive session to approve new teacher’s contracts in December without providing enough information about why it was doing so, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

A complaint filed in January by Mayor William Martin — who is also a member of the committee — alleged the board approved new teacher contracts behind closed doors, without posting the topic on the agenda in advance, in accordance with the law.

Martin said in the original complaint that the contracts were “hastily ratified at a special meeting Dec. 30 by a vote of the outgoing School Committee and it included a wage settlement committing the district to provide raises to employees over the next four years.”

The AG’s office ruled Thursday in Martin’s favor, saying the committee “failed to include sufficient detail” about the added executive session on the agenda and ordered the committee to release the session’s minutes within 30 days.

The AG ruled that the committee’s executive session vote, itself, did not violate the open meeting law, because negotiations with the Greenfield Education Association had concluded just hours before the session was called, and thus it fell under the definition of topics “not reasonably anticipated within 48 hours of the meeting.”

But the committee chairwoman at the time, Maryelen Calderwood, did not announce the reasons for the session before the vote to enter it — a violation of the law, according to the AG.

The committee was already set to meet in executive session that night to discuss pending litigation involving a former nonunion employee.

“The committee should have identified the name of the collective bargaining unit and the specific purpose for the closed door discussion — the Tentative Agreement (with GEA) — in the announcement prior to convening for executive session,” the determination letter read. “Failure to provide this information in the announcement is a violation of the Open Meeting Law.”

The AG also criticized the committee’s failure to meet for a review of the complaint and that they did not receive information requested from the committee’s attorney, Peter Smith, until July 28, and then only after numerous requests.

The AG said it could find the committee in violation of the Open Meeting Law for such behavior if it occurs again during future investigations.

Despite the ruling, the minutes could still be withheld from the public, according to the letter.

The AG said the committee can’t rely on the Open Meeting Law to withhold executive session minutes due to the violation, but various public records law exemptions may allow the committee to do so, in whole or in part.

At the time of the vote, the committee was completing its term of office the next day. Only two members of that committee carried over to the new committee, and only one of those members, Vice Chairwoman Adrienne Nunez, is still on the committee today.

Current School Committee chairman Timothy Farrell said he was not surprised by the outcome, having been briefed when he took over leadership and agreeing that proper procedures had likely not been followed Dec. 30.

Farrell said as a long-time public servant, he’s familiar with the Open Meeting Law and he’s confident the committee will follow proper procedures in the future.

“I also understand from time to time mistakes can be made, and we do our very best to make sure we follow the law,” Farrell said. “We only go in for one of the 10 reasons. If noticifation needs to go out, we do that as well. We do our best to make sure we’re always open and transparent. We always will have times we have to (go into executive session,) and we do it knowing rules.”

The new contracts, which include a one-year contract retroactive to September 2015 and a three-year contract that began July 1, include a general 3 percent wage increase each year.

You can reach Tom Relihan at:
413-772-0261, ext. 264
or trelihan@recorder.com
On Twitter, @RecorderTom