Mount Vernon school board moves into private executive session to discuss litigation and personnel

The Mount Vernon School District board voted March 24 to enter an executive session to discuss pending litigation, the financial history of a particular person or corporation, and matters related to appointment, employment, discipline or removal of a particular person or corporation. The board did not return to open session.

The vote took place during a special meeting convened March 24. President Saunders, Mount Vernon School District board president, led a roll call that noted Trustees Warren Mitchell and Helene Nzinga would participate via Zoom. Trustees McDonough, Maribel, Middleton, White and K. Kelly were also recorded as present. A motion to enter executive session was moved and seconded; meeting remarks indicate the motion carried, though the meeting record does not identify who moved or seconded the motion or provide a named roll-call tally.

The motion, as stated on the record, described the purposes for the closed meeting: discussing pending litigation; reviewing the financial history of a particular person or corporation; and addressing matters that could lead to the appointment, employment, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation. After the vote, the board announced it would not return to open session that evening and the meeting concluded.

The board did not provide further public details about the subjects discussed in executive session or any decisions reached there. No public votes on ordinances, contracts or other open-agenda items were recorded in the transcript for this meeting.