EASTHAMPTON — A former three-term School Committee member has filed a complaint with the state accusing the School Committee of violating the Open Meeting Law when it rescinded its offer to hire Vito Perrone as superintendent in late March.

Debora Lusnia filed the complaint on April 18 alleging that the committee’s discussion and resulting decision during the March 30 executive session were not within the parameters of the stated reason for the executive session posted in advance of the meeting.

“It seems the School Committee has lost sight of the goal of doing what is in the best interest for the students in this district,” she told the Gazette.

School Committee Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and Mayor Nicole LaChapelle have both defended the committee’s process that night.

The mayor said the committee spoke very holistically about the superintendent position and the finalists in both open and executive sessions, and felt the committee has been very clear. She noted that the committee also took a public vote on April 10 to end negotiations with Perrone. After hearing from the community on the matter, she said it was important for the committee to be transparent and that residents understand there was no gray area.

“As someone who went through the process, I don’t see merit to the (complaint),” LaChapelle said.

The executive session

The executive session in question happened on March 30, a week after Perrone accepted the superintendent job at a March 23 meeting.

According to the March 30 posting for the executive session, the meeting was held to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel.

Lusnia alleges that the committee may have violated the Open Meeting Law in several ways.

First, she concludes that members likely discussed matters that were not identified in the agenda — which she says violates the state requirement that the committee must identify matters it intends to discuss before entering into executive session.

“After coming out of said executive session to meet with Dr. Perrone, the Committee did not discuss with Dr. Perrone any details of a proposed contract. Instead, it notified him that the offer for the position had been rescinded,” Lusnia wrote in her April 18 Open Meeting Law complaint.

According to records obtained by the Gazette, the committee did draft a three-year employment contract with Perrone for an annual salary of $151,000. Though neither Perrone or the committee signed the contract, it included, annually, 18 sick days, five personal days, and 26 vacation days.

Secondly, Lusnia alleges that the committee may have also discussed Perrone’s reputation and character behind closed doors before it voted to rescind the job offer. That would have been OK, she said, if the committee had identified that beforehand as its intention. Additionally, Lusnia said the committee would have had to notify Perrone that it intended to hold such discussions, but did not in fact provide him with such a notification.

Lusnia also asserted that according to state law, Perrone had the right to be present in the executive session at which his reputation or character was discussed and also had the right to choose to have such discussion held in an open meeting.

If the discussion held in executive session was not about Perrone’s reputation or character, but rather his professional competence, Lusnia said “then that, too, should have been discussed in a meeting open not only to Perrone, but also to the public.”

In response to these perceived violations, Lusnia said in her complaint that she would like the School Committee to issue an apology to Perrone and the residents of Easthampton, and reinstate the offer of the superintendent position to Perrone.

Lusnia, who previously served three terms on the School Committee, two as chairperson during Perrone’s tenure as principal of Easthampton High School, also organized a protest earlier this month to demonstrate how much support Perrone had behind him.

“I feel this was an unjust process and it needs to be addressed,” Lusnia said.

Committee chair responds

Lusnia’s complaint was discussed during an executive session last Tuesday, at the same meeting that the committee decided to seek an interim superintendent position and restart the search for a new superintendent later this year.

Kwiecinski said at the meeting that the committee has “been quiet” because executive sessions are not supposed to be discussed until the minutes have been publicly released.

“The only time we have made any statement is when we are talking about something that happened already and was shared by Dr. Perrone,” she said. “I know it’s been frustrating, but there’s many times that we can’t talk and that is why we’ve been quiet. We’re doing everything according to the advice and guidance of legal counsel.”

The next day, Kwiecinski responded to Lusnia in a letter written on behalf of the committee saying that the posting for the executive session was for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with the superintendent candidate and/or to conduct contract negotiations with said individual.

“The only discussion that occurred in executive session was related to the communication and terms proposed by both parties. The fact that the communication and terms proposed did not result in an agreement being reached does not mean that strategy discussions regarding negotiations did not occur,” Kwiecinski wrote.

She further stated that the committee did not “discuss the reputation or character of the candidate” in executive session. Instead, she said the committee discussed the communication and proposals the candidate supplied.

“The communication and the terms proposed were not acceptable to the Committee and therefore the Committee did not reach an agreement with the candidate,” Kwiecinski wrote.

She added that Lusnia’s proposed remedies to the perceived violations is not provided by the Open Meeting Law.

Upon receipt of the committee’s response, Lusnia said she intends to pursue her complaint further with the attorney general’s office and will be investigating the best way to address the “ethical problems” associated with how Perrone was treated.

Meanwhile, Perrone thanked students, teachers and community for their “continued and unwavering support” in a statement from his attorney James B. Winston.

“Dr. Perrone has been very consistent from the beginning about his desire to be the superintendent of the Easthampton School system,” Winston said in a statement.

The committee on Monday at 6 p.m. will discuss the interim superintendent search process. The virtual meeting is open to the public to attend, but because it is a work session, there will be no public comment.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>