SAU 6 Board, May 10, 2018

MEDIUM Nonpublic session under the reputation exemption, superintendent excused, with no public record of what followed

The chair moved the board into nonpublic session “Under RSA 91, a colon three two C” [RSA 91-A:3, II(c)], describing it as “a meeting that the board wanted to have” and excusing the superintendent (1:13:27). The recording ends at the roll call (1:15:56). No minutes survive, so the return to public session, any decision, and any vote to seal are not in the record.

Two weeks later the Valley News reported that the board had sent the superintendent a letter, signed by the chair and vice chair, stating that members had voted to pursue other leadership, and that the letter does not say when or how the 12-member SAU 6 board voted. A member, Horsky, confirmed to the reporter that a nonpublic session was held at a meeting earlier that month, and the superintendent said he was not present for it. That is reporting, not a finding about this session.

The rules in force: a nonpublic motion must state the exemption and discussion is confined to the matters set out in the motion (RSA 91-A:3, I(b)-(c)); II(a) is the exemption for an employee's dismissal or discipline, unavailable where the employee has a right to a meeting and asks that it be open, while II(c) applies unless such person requests an open meeting; and Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session must be disclosed within 72 hours unless sealed by a recorded two-thirds vote in public session (III). On March 29 the superintendent had asked that his evaluation be discussed in public (see the March 29, 2018 page). MEDIUM: the subject of this session is not on the record, and the nonpublic minutes or the board's later minutes would settle whether a decision was made here and how it was disclosed.

Sources: RSA 91-A:3, I(b)-(c), II(a), II(c), III (2017 codification); Valley News, May 25, 2018, Patrick O'Grady (reporting)

MEDIUM Board-voted merit pool spent on pay-equity adjustments without returning to the board

Staff told the board that money it had voted for a performance-based merit pool was used instead to bring pay into line by experience, because no performance evaluation system existed (0:08:39, 0:10:59, 0:13:58). The chair: “I think it probably would have been good to have that discussion with us.” Contracts for the coming year had already gone out with 2% raises (0:20:00).

RSA 194-C:5, III: the SAU board shall fix the salaries of all school administrative unit personnel. A reallocation that changes individual salaries on criteria the board did not adopt sits uneasily with that duty, whatever its merits.

Mitigation: the money stayed within the voted total, the business administrator said no administrator took a raise that year (0:15:39), and the administration undertook to bring an evaluation system before the next budget (0:24:16). Horsky's proposal to freeze the account (0:26:54) was not moved. MEDIUM as a control weakness; the board's original vote and the salary actions are not in this record.

Sources: RSA 194-C:5, III (SAU board fixes SAU salaries; 1996, 298:3)

MEDIUM Superintendent-evaluation subcommittee met at a member's home; no notice or minutes in the record

The chair reported that “Four of us.” (corrected to five, 1:01:47) met and drafted the evaluation instrument, vision and mission, and thanked Erickson for “opening her house and setting up a whole big screen” (1:11:31). The subcommittee was named at the March 29 meeting, where the chair listed Pierce, Horsky, Erickson and Petrin with herself (see the March 29, 2018 page).

A subcommittee of the SAU board is a public body: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) reaches any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body of a school administrative unit, so its meetings need posted notice of time and place and minutes under RSA 91-A:2, II. No notice or minutes appear in the record, and a private home is a difficult place for the public to attend. MEDIUM, not HIGH: notice may have been posted somewhere this page cannot see, and the product was brought to the full board in public as a draft for comment (1:06:17).

Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (subcommittees are public bodies); RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification; notice and minutes)