The Board of Finance has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding settlements reached by the Hampton Elementary School Board of Education to resolve a discrimination complaint filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) and the employment agreement of a dismissed certified staff member. Though school officials failed to respond to the request within the statutorily required time frame, First Selectman Allan Cahill reported at a meeting of the finance board that “one amount was in the five figure range and the other amounted to six figures.”

The Board of Education recently settled a complaint lodged against them with the FOI Commission. In an October 5 correspondence to the complainant, The Hampton Gazette, Chairman Rose Bisson acknowledged that the Agenda item of a June 21 executive session “did not meet the requirements of Freedom of Information,” adding that agenda items “will be more descriptive to allow the public to know why the Board is entering executive session” in the future.

A second complaint, filed by school board members Juan Arriola, Diane Gagnon, and John Russell, alleged that the school board invited the superintendent into an executive session without soliciting the testimony necessary to permit inclusion. While resolution of the complaint is still pending, at the September 27 meeting of the school board, an attorney from the FOI Commission confirmed that only those offering testimony may attend executive sessions, solely for that purpose and limited to the time necessary to provide the requested information.

While a complaint filed with another State agency, the CHRO, has been settled, another allegation of racial discrimination was lodged against school officials when a Discrimination Grievance was filed by a staff member on September 26. While the board was apprised, per policy, of the complaint at the September meeting, details were not discussed and resolution is still pending.

Also at the September meeting, board members debated whether or not the board should have any say in the employment of certified staff, or if hiring and placement on steps should be left solely to the discretion of the superintendent. The board voted against member David Halbach’s motion to “continue the practice of the Board’s approval for hiring new certified staff, including salary,” in a 5-3 vote. Discussion on the subject started in August, when interim superintendent Valerie Brunneau hired, and set the salary, for two teachers without board approval. Up until that point, the school board has always approved the hiring, and resignations, of all certified staff. The first duty listed under “Board Prerogatives and Duties” in the negotiated contract between the Hampton Board of Education and the Hampton Education Association is “to employ or hire, assign and transfer teachers”; and placement on the salary schedule is “at the discretion of the board”. A new contract is currently being negotiated.