Darby O’Brien and Luke Gelinas argued their complaint against the school system before Judge C. Brian McDonald last July.
05.24.2011 | SOUTH HADLEY - Darby O'Brien, left, and Luke Gelinas hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon.SOUTH HADLEY – Fresh from a victory in court, the plaintiffs in a suit against the South Hadley School Committee called for the resignations Tuesday of School Superintendent Gus A. Sayer and all the committee members who took part in what a judge has ruled illegal meetings.
Darby O’Brien and Luke Gelinas argued their complaint against the school system before Judge C. Brian McDonald last July. On Monday, McDonald issued a ruling that five executive sessions called to discuss Sayer’s performance and employment status violated the state’s open meeting law. McDonald also ruled that Sayer’s three-percent pay increase, which was approved at one of those meeting, is invalid.
At a press conference on the Town Common, Gelinas and O’Brien said the judge’s ruling has affirmed their long-time complaints about Sayer and the school system in South Hadley. They also blamed school officials for allowing a culture of bullying at the high school that led to the death of 15-year-old freshman Phoebe Prince in January of 2010.
“We had a problem with bullying long before Phoebe Prince came to us,” said Gelinas.
In a statement, Gelinas cited former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel’s conclusion that the behavior of school officials regarding the Prince incident was “troublesome.” McDonald, Gelinas noted, used words like “shameful” and “misleading” to describe the School Committee’s conduct.
“It now seems clear there was a conspiracy here,” Gelinas said. “It was done at the expense of our children, our schools, the town and a grieving mother and sister who lost their beloved child. It’s time for the good people of South Hadley to stand up and stop ignoring the facts and realize the schools and the government belong to them.”
Prince’s suicide drew hoards of media from around the world to South Hadley. McDonald noted in his ruling that the town’s actions were under intense scrutiny in the months following Prince’s death. It was in this context, he wrote, that the School Committee misled the public by stating that they were going into executive session to negotiate a contract. Instead, McDonald wrote, Sayer’s extension was a done deal and the discussion about his job performance should have taken place in open session so the public could participate.
O’Brien said he and Gelinas plan to ask new School Committee member Barry Waite at Wednesday night’s meeting to call for the resignations of all the members who took part in the illegal sessions. “It’s a culture,” he said. “Until Gus Sayer is gone and the School Committee members address the problem it will never change.”
In his ruling, McDonald declined to call for a further investigation, leaving that task to the plaintiffs. O’Brien said he and Gelinas plan to meet with new Northwestern District Attorney David A. Sullivan.
Town Counsel Edward J. Ryan, Jr. said Tuesday he is still analyzing McDonald’s ruling but does not anticipate appealing it.
“The School Committee will go forward and try to avoid falling into the same pit in the future,” he said.
Ryan estimated that Sayer has has been collecting his pay increase for nearly a year. He said the School Committee has the options of ratifying the hike again or asking Sayer for the money back.
Sayer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Gelinas also has a complaint pending in U.S. District Court contending that former School Committee chairman Edward Boisselle violated his civil rights when he ejected him from a meeting as Gelinas tried to voice some of his concerns about town officials. Boisselle could not be reached for comment.