Volusia County School Board moves into closed session to get legal advice on pending litigation

Jamie Haines, chair of the Volusia County School Board, called a special meeting to order Tuesday and asked the board to move into a closed executive session to discuss pending litigation, saying the session would be held under attorney–client privilege.

Dr. Gilbert Evans, the board’s attorney, told the board, “Madam chair, I need the advice of the school board concerning pending litigation.” After a motion to move into a closed session was made by Donna Brosmeyer and seconded by Christa Goodrich, the board voted unanimously to go into closed session.

The board announced the closed session during the special meeting at about 3:06 p.m. and said staff not authorized to attend would be asked to leave the room. Dr. Evans read the names of those who would participate in the attorney–client session: Jamie Haines (chair), Ruben Colon (vice chair), Donna Brosmeyer (District 4), Christa Goodrich (District 2), Jessie Thompson (District 3), Dr. Carmen Balgobin (superintendent), Aaron Wolf (staff member) and Gilbert Evans (school board attorney). The board indicated the closed session would take approximately 30 minutes.

The public meeting was reopened at 3:45 p.m.; the special session was then adjourned. The board noted its regularly scheduled meeting would begin at 4:30 p.m. No substantive details about the litigation were disclosed in the public portion of the meeting record.

Votes at a glance: The board voted to move into a closed executive session to discuss pending litigation. The motion was moved by Donna Brosmeyer and seconded by Christa Goodrich; the motion passed unanimously.