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Residents question OPRA handling, attorney presence and vaccine‑policy rescinds during Board of Education public comment
Summary
Two residents raised concerns during public comment about Open Public Records Act handling, the identity/absence of the district’s regular attorney, and a district policy the speaker said could affect federal funding; board members responded briefly.
Several residents used the meeting’s public‑comment periods to press the board on records handling, legal representation and policy rescinds.
Betsy Cross asked the board for an update on a district policy she identified as “policy 05/1956,” saying she believed the policy’s status could affect federal funding. Cross said she had received a letter dated Feb. 14 and that “within 2 weeks, you will need to rescind those policies,” attributing a similar action to Middletown. She also raised concerns about perceived inconsistencies and heavy redaction in Open Public Records Act (OPRA) responses, saying a request she filed received questions that other requesters did not.
Another speaker, Betsy Kronz, asked for the name of the attorney attending the meeting and why the district’s regular attorney, Athena Cornell, was not present. Board members answered that the attorney in attendance was Angela Guerrera (transcription spelling appears as both Guerrero/Barela/Guerrera during the meeting) and that the regular district attorney was not available for that session. Kronz also asked whether attorney bills for November and December had been provided.
During the meeting, Board staff provided an OPRA status report: Mr. Smythe said the district had received 69 OPRA requests since July 1; 65 were closed, one had received a partial response, one was pending clarification under recent law changes, and two had been received that day (one seeking payroll records for the past 18 months and one seeking Blue Cross Blue Shield invoices for employee health benefits for the past 18 months). Smythe said the district had produced 9,647 pages of records to date in the current fiscal year.
Board members responded briefly to the public comments and said they would look into specific concerns about OPRA handling and legal bills; no formal action was taken during the meeting on these public requests or on the policy question raised.
