A message from David Medina, Director of External Communications for Hartford Public Schools, was just released regarding the barring of media from Monday evening’s meeting at Classical Magnet School:
It was the intention of the district to hold a private meeting between the Superintendent and families of Classical Magnet School on Monday, Feb. 13, that would not fall under the FOIA’s definition of a public meeting.
Upon consultation with our attorney, we have been advised thatbecause the term “School Governance Council” was used to invite parents to the meeting and in communications with the press, the meeting was considered a public meeting.
This was our error.
You can read about the controversy here.
Heather B
This is a big error, of the major variety. A statement saying “oops” is expected to cover this? How will this be remedied in the future? It is the aim of public meeting law to prevent the very inaccessibility the school district created. It’s too convenient to make it happen and then to apologize afterward. Barring the press is a forceful step – where’s the caution?
Real Hartford » Hartford Schools Banning Media from Public Meetings
[…] UPDATE: 15 Feb 2012: Two days after the meeting, HPS admit they erred. […]
River Brandon
ugh, lame. the problem is they still seem to think they can have a “private meeting between the superintendent and families”. i have a hard time seeing how they think they can do that. a meeting between *a* family and the superintendent? sure. a few families? ok. but *all* families of a large school? come on. they were not discussing confidential student information, so what’s the “privacy” about? oh wait, it’s not about privacy, it’s about secrecy. credibility fading fast.
Helder
I call SHENANIGANS!! This is outrageous. Where is the transparency from the Board of Education? This isn’t a case where they are discussing what color pens to use in a particular school; this is a case of mismanaging placement of principals within schools in our communities. These closed door political moves by the superintendent need to be called out and stopped. It’s one thing to allow a new superintendent to attempt different things, but when the relocation and dismissal of principals is clearly political in nature, then the public who pays her salary and funds her department not only have a right to know, they have obligation to stand up to it, question, and be addressed with the dignity they deserve.
This ‘apology’ is nothing more than a slap in the face of democracy: “We thought we could have a private meeting about publicly funded schools and didn’t want to be filmed being insensitive and dismissive of parents and students and the staff of schools that are being alienated.”
Jane
Maybe instead of worrying about what school Sullivan is the principal of they should have just selected him as superintendent. I’m willing to guess he nailed the interviews, and he would have been a breath of fresh air for the city.
Rich Wareing
There won’t be any more of this: http://courantblogs.com/rick-green/hartford-boe-chair-open-meetings-transparency-will-be-the-rule/
Kerri Provost
Thank you, and thanks to Matt for doing the right thing.