Update on April 21, 2015 School Board Meeting

The School Board Meeting on April 21, 2015 began with the Board reading into the record a statement they wrote to the public regarding the release of confidential documents by Ken Eyring. According to the statement, the Board met with counsel on April 7 and again on April 14.  The statement says, “From those meetings, the board has learned that not all attorney-client communication is privileged and confidential, even if marked as such.  In opinion of the school districts counsel the letters in question were covered by the attorney client privilege, however it was deemed by counsel that the release was a minor mistake.”

The statement goes on to say, “While there may be occasions when the release of privileged and confidential attorney-client communication is helpful to voters and helpful to the School Board, the fact is that the authority to release privileged and confidential attorney-client communication belongs to the full School Board when it is convened in accordance with the Right-to-Know Law and to the duly-authorized administrative officials. A single board member acting alone has no authority or right to bind the board or the district.”  The School Board did not discuss any consequences or offer an apology to the pulic regarding this issue.

The Citizens Facilities Committee presented its plan for Option 2 which recommends a renovation and addition to Golden Brook School as well as renovations to Windham Middle School.  The Board approved the recommendation and asked the Business Administrator to move forward with getting quotes from an architect and engineering firm as well as other professionals to begin fully vetting the proposal. Preliminary figures by the Citizens Facilities Committee estimate the project to cost $17.2 million.  

The Windham PTA presented Employee Appreciation plaques to Stephen J. Plocharczyk, who served as the first principal at WMS and to employees who retired with 30 or more years of service in the Windham School District, including Nancy Donegan, Donna Maroon, Judith Newcomb, Joan Tsoukalas, Stephen Plocharczyk, Nancy Fahey, and Judith Kryzynski, Eileen Frigon, James Flynn, Kathleen Barry, Mary Beth LaSalle, Joyce Bohenko, Coralyn Mangelinckx, Rose Boda, James Burns, and Doreen Mercier. Please join the PTA and Windham LINK in thanking all of these administrators and teachers for their years of service and dedication to our children.