School Board Seals Minutes for 99 YEARS???

As reported in the Eagle-Tribune;

School Board's lips are as tightly sealed as meeting minutes; Attorney says 99 years violates spirit of the law By Meghan Carey
Staff writer


PLAISTOW — Ninety-nine years.

That's how long the nonpublic meeting minutes from last week's Timberlane Regional School Board meeting will remain a secret, something right-to-know experts said is done to protect someone, but could go too far.

The board interrupted its meeting March 20 to go into nonpublic session, citing the state statute that protects employees' reputations.

Retiring Athletic Director Dennis "Bucky" Tardif was with the board at the time, but officials said the meeting was not about him. They remain tight-lipped about who and what was discussed behind closed doors.

Timberlane Superintendent Richard La Salle said it is "very, very incorrect" to imply from the nonpublic session that Tardif had done something wrong. He said there were a number of administrators in the room at the time of the closed-door meeting.

Tardif said yesterday he's been in many nonpublic sessions during his 20-plus years in the district.

"I was part of a personnel issue on another matter," he said. "Just a normal thing for me."

But sealing minutes for 99 years isn't normal, said Bill Chapman, an attorney who specializes in right-to-know law. He said many districts and towns vote to seal minutes and don't put any explicit period of time on it.

Putting a time period on sealed minutes "violates the spirit" of the state's right-to-know law, he said. That's because the law first says nonpublic minutes must be disclosed in 72 hours, unless the meeting fits one of three criteria and a two-third's written vote ratifies the seal.

Minutes can only be sealed for specific reasons and can be unsealed after the circumstances pass. Anyone can request that minutes be unsealed, Chapman said.

"It's hard for me to believe that those circumstances would exist for 99 years," he said.

But school officials want whatever happened behind those doors to remain secret for almost a century.

Stephen Brown, School Board vice chairman, said the time frame was chosen because the board didn't think minutes could be sealed forever. He said 99 years was the "next best thing."

Rep. James Garrity, R-Atkinson, who served on the Legislature's Right-to-Know Committee, said there could be a good reason behind it all.

"For example, let's say an employee was falsely accused of something," he said. "Letting that info out to the public would unfairly hurt that person's reputation."

The School Board went into nonpublic session and sealed the minutes to avoid doing just that, Chairman William Baldwin said.

"When you are dealing with employees and you deal with certain situations, whatever the situation may be, you have to have all your facts and information," he said. "A lot of things go on and 90 percent of it is rumor."

Baldwin said 99 years didn't strike him because the board was trying to avoid a civil lawsuit. He said no action will be taken.

"There's nothing to it," Baldwin said. "At this point in the juncture, unless something else comes up, it's over."


99YEARS??? WOW, What the hell did they discuss? Or have they simply learned from watching Atkinson's selectmen during the last three years?

Now what does the law say about this?

91-A:3 Nonpublic Sessions. –

III. Minutes of proceedings in nonpublic session shall be kept and the record of all actions shall be promptly made available for public inspection, except as provided in this section. Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting, unless, by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present, it is determined that divulgence of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the body or agency itself, or render the proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism, more specifically, to matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or widespread injury or loss of life. This shall include training to carry out such functions. In the event of such circumstances, information may be withheld until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply.

So.... it would appear that sealing the minutes definitely violates the spirit of the law, and the time frame violates the word of the law. What a wonderful School Board we have.

What about sunshine? Accountability? Truth in governance?