The Board of Education voted 7 – 1 last week to cut ties with its legal firm.
School board chairwoman Rose McKinnon said the law firm of Durant, Nichols, Houston, Hodgson and Cortese of Bridgeport were too expensive and gave input on an issue when should have stepped aside.
McKinnon said she recently held back payments from the Bridgeport law firm after discovering what she characterizes as ​“questionable time charges” on billing statements.
“Our bills are quite high based on the number of phone calls we make to them,” McKinnon said.
McKinnon said the school district was charged every fifteen minutes of service.
According to attorney Donald Houston, his law firm represented the school district for 21 years — and charged $210 an hour.
McKinnon was also upset over the fact a Feb. 18 executive session of the school board was tape recorded.
Executive sessions are meetings closed to the public. They are legal in certain circumstances under state law, such as when governments bodies are talking about legal strategy, a real estate deal — or a specific employee.
No votes can be taken during these closed-door sessions — and an agenda must be provided so the public knows what the elected officials are talking about.
The school board met in February to discuss firing an unnamed employee.
Upon learning the meeting was taped, residents asked the school board for a copy.
The school board then asked their lawyers if they had to hand over the tape — which they were required to do, under state law.
“We got lucky because we were not discussing anything out of the ordinary,” McKinnon said. ​“Fortunately this time it didn’t impact the board adversely.”
McKinnon said the Bridgeport law firm should have recused itself, since one of its attorneys was present at the executive session.
Houston dismissed this charge, saying the law firm was doing what the school board requested.
The board made the change at its March 16 meeting — the same day members hired the law firm of Sullivan, Shoen, Campane and Connon of Hartford as its new legal guns.
The new firm’s rate is comparable to the old law firm, McKinnon said.
