Concerns were raised by members of the Boards of Finance, Selectmen and Education during a recent budget workshop regarding the amount of money the schools have spent on legal services this year.
Board of Finance Chairman Kathy Donahue noted Hampton Elementary School’s overage for legal fees as part of a discussion on the school’s budget request. First Selectman Allan Cahill pointed out that the town, which includes all of its many departments, spends less than $6,000 a year for legal counsel, while Parish Hill Middle/High School spent $90,000 last year, reportedly due to expulsions. The elementary school has spent $13,000 more than the amount budgeted, according to school board member Juan Arriola, who spoke to the issue at the meeting and whose Freedom of Information (FOI) request yielded a compilation of money spent to date on legal fees.
The response to the request revealed that, though the Board of Education budgeted $20,000 to cover the expense of negotiating the teachers’ contract, this only cost the town $5,194. The remaining expenses, $22,728, are largely due to an investigation into a complaint of discrimination to include conducting interviews and reviewing documentation. A smaller amount, $4184, has been spent on attorney representation regarding an FOI complaint (see article on next page).
According to the Board of Education’s policies and procedures, once an employee files a discrimination grievance, the Superintendent is notified within five days and must apprise the Board of Education of the complaint. Within ten days, a hearing must be held, after which the Superintendent has five days to “resolve the compliant, negotiate a long-term solution, or refer the matter to the Board of Education for consideration”.
In this instance, former Superintendent Sarli apparently used the school’s legal counsel instead, though there is no record of a board decision to do so. Additionally, the timeline stipulates approximately one month to resolve complaints of discrimination, however it appears through the invoices that the investigation regarding the matter was conducted in October, November and December. The agenda of the May 22, 2024 meeting of the Board of Education included an executive session scheduled to “discuss a discriminations complaint”, specifically the “board’s role” in addressing it. This is the first time the matter has appeared on an agenda.
Reportedly, a complaint of discrimination has been filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). This will be the second time a CHRO complaint has been filed in the last two years. The first, alleging racial discrimination, was resolved in the complainant’s favor with a financial settlement as well as unemployment compensation. An FOI request for the legal fees spent on that representation has been filed.