STARKSBORO — Starksboro resident John Jefferies has received a preliminary injunction against ANESU’s contract bargaining council that will force them to hold negotiations in open session when negotiating teachers contracts in accordance with Vermont’s Open Meeting Law. It has been a long-standing practice of the bargaining council to exclude the public by invoking executive session during such proceedings.
Jefferies first became concerned about public exclusion in 2011, during contentious negotiations between the teacher’s union and the school board regarding salary and other contract specifics. There was a great deal of public interest and sentiment surrounding the negotiations and more than 30 concerned people attended an ANESU board meeting, where they fully expected to hear from mediators on both sides of the negotiation. However, at the last minute they were told that the board had decided to enter into executive session and exclude the public, even though it was pointed out to the board that it would be in violation of Vermont’s Open Meeting Law.
Title 1, section 313 of Vermont’s open meeting law identifies consideration of contracts, mediation and arbitration as possible reasons to enter executive session. However, the law also requires the board to conclude that “premature general public knowledge would clearly place the state, municipality, or other public body or person involved at a substantial disadvantage.” This violation of the open meeting law is regularly used to deny public access to negotiations and discussions where the parties involved might find public scrutiny uncomfortable. This practice effectively denies the public access to school board meetings, where the negotiation directly impact members of the community, the schools they pay for, and the quality of education. It’s a trend Jefferies believes must be reversed for the sake of the taxpayer. “It comes down to transparency”, he said. “It impacts 2/3 to ¾ of the property taxes, and the teaching conditions. It’s too important to be decided in secret.”
Jefferies attempted to persuade the ANESU board to publicly admit that their use of executive session was incorrect, but the board refused, and contended that executive session was customary for contract negotiations. The ANESU Superintendent at the time was Evelyn Howard, who told Jefferies that the board was concerned that they’d be “distracted” by having the public present and observing the proceedings.
Jefferies filed a complaint with the Addison County Superior Court, but by 2013, he felt he’d been stonewalled by the court and was getting nowhere with his attempt to force the committee to comply with state law. In 2015, Jefferies again began attending meetings for that years contract negotiations. The bargaining council was instructed by their attorney, Steven Stitzel, to hold all negotiations in public. “He practically quoted my lawsuit,” says Jefferies. However, with nothing in writing to hold them to the practice of open meetings, the committee did what Jefferies terms “a complete flip” in 2016, resuming the practice of holding the meetings in Executive Session. Their explanation was that the meetings would be more friendly, with less grandstanding for the public. He subsequently filed for injunctive relief and on February 9, 2017 was granted a preliminary injunction by Vermont Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar.
A counter action has been filed to quash the injunction, and Jefferies thinks the issue will probably go to the Vermont Supreme Court for a final ruling. As of now, the bargaining council will not hold meetings in executive session, or try to sidestep the law by meeting without a quorum, which would, says Jefferies, be illegal and may result in contempt of court charges.
