Attorney General Determines Stoughton School Committee Violated State Open Meeting Law

The Stoughton School Committee violated the state’s Open Meeting Law in 2010 when members voted on a contract extension for Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi during an executive session, according to the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley.

The AG’s decision against the Stoughton School Committee is the result of complaints filed by a Stoughton citizen and the Stoughton Teachers Association after the school committee voted in executive session to give Dr. Rizzi a contract extension until 2016. The vote took place on September 28, 2010. 

“This decision is a step in the right direction,” Stoughton Teachers Association President Susan Cogliano said in a press release issued by the STA.

“We were shocked and troubled last year when the school committee abruptly voted to grant a five-year extension to Dr. Rizzi, who had completed just one year of her three-year contract and was midway through the evaluation process.

“We found it especially troubling that the school committee took this unprecedented step despite the many documented concerns about her administration.”

According to Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Nable of the AG’s Office of Open Government, the school committee failed to sufficiently specify agenda items in its meeting notice, failed to follow proper procedures for entering executive session during the meeting, and improperly voted on the contract extension for Dr. Rizzi during executive session.

According to the Open Meeting Law, contract negotiations may be conducted in executive session, but the committee must vote in open session.

While the Attorney General’s office determined that the school committee violated the state’s Open Meeting Law in three separate incidents, it fell short of requiring the Stoughton School Committee to nullify its Sept. 28, 2010 vote to approve Dr. Rizzi’s contract.

“That was a complaint that came at an earlier time,” Dr. Rizzi said, and indicated the School Department was looking to move past the matter.

However, she did say “the Attorney General’s statement makes it clear that the School Committee did not have ill intent.” Dr. Rizzi said the School Committee “did not purposely violate the law.”

According to the STA release, the Attorney General did “strongly recommend” that the committee reconsider the vote to extend Dr. Rizzi’s contract during an open session.

The School Committee did discuss the contract extension at their Oct. 12, 2010 meeting and decided not to reconsider the vote.

But, the Attorney General’s ruling stated that the subsequent discussion on the contract extension that took place on Oct. 12, 2010, two weeks after the school committee voted in executive session, was not sufficient to cure the violation.

“Allowing public comment on an action already taken without publicly reconsidering the vote cannot cure a violation of the Open Meeting Law,” Nable wrote in the Oct. 31, 2011 ruling.

Current School Committee Chair Joyce Husseini said the vote to extend Dr. Rizzi’s contract would be a topic for discussion at the next School Committee meeting (Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011).

She said she will “leave it to the Committee to decide.”

Both Dr. Rizzi and Husseini said open meeting laws have changed. The School Department is setting up open meeting law training for the School Committee, Dr. Rizzi and Husseini said. Both said the training and violation itself are not going to cost the Schools a significant amount of money.

Husseini, then-chair Tom Colburn (now vice-chair), Deb Sovinee, Dr. Erdem Ural and Allan Mills sat on the School Committee when this vote was taken.

Since then, Dr. Ural lost his bid for reelection (), and Mills, who still serves on the board, was not part of the executive session vote in question since teacher contracts were also being discussed and his wife is a member of the STA and an elementary school teacher in town.

Prior to the School Committee executive session vote in September of 2010, the Stoughton teachers had raised serious questions about the superintendent’s leadership, according to the STA release.

After the school committee granted Dr. Rizzi a five-year contract extension, the Stoughton teachers took a vote of no confidence in her. The vote passed by an overwhelming margin of 121 to 6, according to the STA release.

In taking a no confidence vote in Dr. Rizzi, the Stoughton teachers cited the following reasons:

• Decisions that are not in the best educational interest of the students
• Decisions that place the health and safety of students at risk
• Leadership through fear, intimidation and retaliation

“We are in a difficult situation,” Cogliano said in the STA release.  “It’s troubling that issues that gave rise to the vote of no confidence continue. The School Committee has been made aware of our serious concerns with Dr. Rizzi’s leadership style.

“It appears that the school committee is unable or unwilling to address the concerns issues raised in our well documented meetings. The teachers of Stoughton have been more than willing to work with the school committee and administration but there must be willingness on their side.”

“We hope that the school committee will reconsider its decision and not grant the extension to the superintendent,” Cogliano added.

Dr. Rizzi and Husseini said they were surprised at the wording of the release.

“Why the STA used the language they used, I honestly don’t know,” Dr. Rizzi said.

“I’m a little surprised at the tone of the STA at bringing up all the issues that were part of the [contract] negotiation process,” said Husseini, who said the negotiations were ultimately settled and the STA received a “fair contract.”

A was ratified in June, 2011, after more than 18 months of negotiations.

Husseini said the School Committee voting to extend Dr. Rizzi’s contract in September of 2010 was a vote of confidence for the superintendent.

At both the Oct. 11, 2011 and Nov. 1, 2011 School Committee meetings, the committee reaffirmed their confidence in Dr. Rizzi’s leadership during a review process.

The School Committee described Dr. Rizzi as “honest,” “transparent” and “professional” in the area fiscal management; she was lauded her for her creativity, risk taking and “outside the box thinking” in her educational management; and she “carries herself with character and dignity” when it comes to school, community and intergovernmental relations.”  

Dr. Rizzi said she considered the decision from the AG to be the “end of the matter.

“It’s certainly our attempt to work on areas of common ground [with the STA],” she said. “That’s still going to be our goal.”

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Portions of this article are from a Stoughton Teachers Association (STA) press release. The complete STA press release is posted in the media gallery above.