SOUTH HADLEY — Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School trustees voted Tuesday to place Head of School Scott Goldman on paid administrative leave after staff leveled three grievances and two petitions against him.

Now, a select panel from the board will investigate the complaints against Goldman, who had announced last year he would leave in June after six years at the school’s helm.

The vote by the 13-member board was near-unanimous.

Board President Geoff Sumi said the decision to form the panel does not mean there was any wrongdoing.

“The action that I’m taking to form this committee does not reflect any judgment on Scott’s conduct whatsoever,” he said.

Personnel matters are typically discussed in closed session. But Goldman opted to respond in public, and took the opportunity to detail some of the work he has done to address problems such as faculty substance abuse and high dropout rates. The board did not discuss the grievances and petitions directly, and did not provide copies of the complaints to the press, either.

The only insight into their content Tuesday night came from Goldman’s remarks. He said after the meeting he and his attorney believed the best course was to have the complaints aired in public, so as not to elevate the community’s concern about their severity.

“In my opinion, and in the opinion of the attorney, there is nothing here that should have resulted in some executive session,” Goldman said.

One petition, Goldman said, “asks for my immediate dismissal” following controversy about Goldman’s handling of whether English teacher Lewis Goff would be terminated in April, and whether “Teacher X” should be granted a one-year leave of absence — a decision Goldman said he recused himself from. Goff’s contract was ultimately extended, Goldman said.

At the time, students and alumni rallied outside the school after Goff’s rumored termination.

The second petition asks the board to set up a “collective decision-making structure” — something Goldman said would violate statute.

The first complaint, made by a teacher, Goldman said, criticizes the way he spoke to a student after breaking up a fight. The second complaint, he said, alleges he made a staff member “feel uncomfortable” after the staff member made a decision that “could have undone weeks of work by the student’s counselor, school nurse, and me to build an alliance with the student and their parent” about participating in a national competition.

The third complaint, he said, sprouted after sparring between the staff and administration about hiring practices.

Goldman denied impropriety in each instance, and said decisions that may have been unpopular during his tenure were all made “carefully, ethically and legally.”

“Please know that I wholeheartedly and confidently invite a thorough and deliberate review of the complaints, including any improper motivation behind them,” Goldman said.

He also talked about his tenure broadly, saying when he took the job six years ago, he addressed faculty substance abuse, high dropout rates, special education non-compliance, unethical student transcript practices and lack of staff evaluations, among other issues.

The Personnel Advisory Board, comprising three elected members who represent the staff in the absence of a union, issued a statement after the meeting calling Goldman’s speech a “barely restrained tirade” and criticized him for airing the grievances in public.

“Tonight, Mr. Goldman’s barely restrained tirade, rehashed and distorted PVPA’s entire history and legacy,” the statement said. “He chose to include and make available to the press, specific, targeted attacks on individuals in our community, including students.”

Goldman said he takes issues of confidentiality very seriously, and that his lawyer reviewed the contents of his speech.

The advisory board also wrote Goldman has a history of “retaliation and intimidation.”

“We hope that after witnessing the behavior of our head of school tonight, they will now fully grasp the risk employees have taken in speaking up, and will act to protect them from a workplace permeated with fear.”

Other staff addressed the board during public comment.

“You only need to know that there is fear, that it is widespread, that it has been intensifying,” said teacher Haley Pearl.

Goldman has worked in education for more than 30 years. Before coming to PVPA, he served as principal of Amherst Regional High School and Smith Academy.

Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.

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