EXECUTIVE SESSIONS
All meetings of the School Committee are open to attendance by the public and media
representatives. However, the Committee has the right to convene in a closed executive
session when it meets the following procedural conditions imposed by state law:
1. The Committee will first convene in an open session for which due notice has
been given.
2. The Chairperson (or, in his/her absence, the presiding member) will state the
purpose for the executive session by stating all subjects that may be revealed
without compromising the purpose for which the executive session was called.
3. A majority of the members must vote to enter the executive session, with the
vote taken by roll call and recorded in the official minutes.
4. The Chairperson or presiding member will state before entering the executive
session whether the Committee will reconvene in open session after the executive
session.
The law puts specific limitations on the purposes for which executive sessions may be
convened. The Committee may enter executive sessions only to deliberate:
1. The reputation, character, physical condition or mental health, rather than the
professional competence, of a single individual, or the discipline or dismissal,
including the hearing of charges against, a member of the committee, a school
department employee or student, or other individual. The individual has certain
rights enumerated in the law including requiring the Committee to hold an open
session should the individual so request.
2. Strategy with respect to non-union negotiations or to conduct collective
bargaining sessions with non-union personnel.
3. Strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation, if an open meeting
might have a detrimental effect. Collective bargaining may also be conducted.
4. The deployment of security personnel or devices.
5. Allegations of criminal misconduct or to discuss the filing of criminal
complaints.
6. Transactions of real estate, if an open meeting might be detrimental to the
negotiating position of the committee or another party.
7. To comply with the provisions of any general or specific law of federal grant-
in-aid requirements.