An Oxford resident is requesting seven months of e‑mails that deal with school district business sent between members of the school board.
Nancy Schmitt, a former school board member and a current member of the town’s finance board, believes that school board members are using e‑mails to discuss and deliberate school district-related issues — including the recent controversy with former Superintendent Judith Palmer.
The practice amounts to holding improper meetings, Schmitt said.
“I’ve been characterized as being very political, but I only open my mouth when I see something that is really wrong,” Schmitt said. “I’ve seen that a lot lately and it disturbs me to no end. They (the school board) have not yet come to terms with the fact they are a public board.”
School board member Michael Macchio called Schmitt’s request a “political play.”
“I believe Ms. Schmidt is not interested in or cares about any illegal meetings,” Macchio said in an e‑mail. “This is simply a political play to intimidate and harm the current board members. Her constant frivolous complaints are costing the town because the board needs to pay legal fees to defend such nonsense claims. I believe this is what is particularly wrong with our government system and why good and decent folks choose to stay out of civil service.”
Schmitt said she wants to use the information from the e‑mails to bolster a complaint she filed against the school board with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission.
She believes the school board, under chairman Rose McKinnon’s leadership, has been violating state open government laws.
Schmitt had first requested e‑mails dating back to November 24, 2009, then narrowed the request to cover January 2010 through August.
McKinnon, chairman of the Oxford Board of Education, acknowledged Schmitt’s request at the school board meeting Tuesday.
McKinnon said she discussed the request with the school board’s attorney.
School board members will now start searching their e‑mail accounts.
McKinnon said board members don’t use official Oxford School District e‑mail, so board members are going to have to dig through their personal and/or business-related e‑mail accounts.
Some e‑mail programs automatically delete e‑mails, McKinnon said.
“I know this is a large project,” she said.
When reached for comment Wednesday, Schmitt said her request is not unreasonable — and easy to accomplish, given modern technology.
The e‑mail request could be costly for the school district, depending on how it is handled, said Mark Dumas, an attorney with the Crumbie Law Group in Hartford.
Dumas publishes the Connecticut FOI Law Blog.
While e‑mails are subject to open government laws, certain communication is exempt, including discussions of a specific student, student records — or matters dealing with collective bargaining.
If a board member’s e‑mail mentions a specific school district employee, that employee may have to be notified that the e‑mail is about to go public.
“The employee can object,” Dumas said.
The school board may need an attorney to go through all the e‑mails to see what’s disclosable and what’s protected.
Whether e‑mails sent between school board members constitutes an illegal meeting isn’t known, Dumas said. The state’s Freedom of Information Law was written in the 1970s. It didn’t anticipate e‑mails.
“There isn’t a definitive answer,” Dumas said.
The school board is just emerging from a controversy involving Palmer. The school board voided her contract after a lengthy executive session in May.
Parents protested. School board members said the protests were organized by town Democrats. The controversy dragged on until Palmer decided to seek employment elsewhere.
Schmitt’s husband, William, has filed two complaints with the state Board of Education regarding the school board.
Both complaints were dismissed, according to McKinnon.
Schmitt said they were dismissed not due to the merits of the claim, but because the state Board of Education did not have jurisdiction over the matter.
