Chair rebukes committee member’s social media post; committee seals executive-session minutes

The Cumberland School Committee opened its Aug. 14 meeting at Cumberland High School with a public rebuke of a social media post by committee member Jason Dean. The chair said the post “was inaccurate, misleading, and lacked the level of care which members should approach this role,” and clarified that a litigation item (Ross v. Town of Cumberland et al) was not on the executive-session agenda and was not discussed.

During a follow-up exchange, Mr. Dean asked whether the chair had been allowed to share a personal email with a constituent in a public meeting, saying, “the chair just shared the the contents of a personal email between myself and a constituent in a public meeting without my permission.” The chair and staff stated they would look into the issue.

The committee reported the outcome of an executive-session vote to deny a student appeal and uphold the superintendent’s decision; that denial passed 6–0. Later the committee voted to seal the executive-session minutes. The motion to seal was moved by Ms. Smith, seconded by Ms. Shea, and passed 4–2, with Mr. Dean and Mr. Reagan recorded as voting no.

The committee declined to provide further details about the sealed minutes at the public meeting. The chair framed the rebuke as a reminder that committee members should exercise care when discussing confidential or sensitive matters and when posting about committee business publicly.

Next procedural steps: staff said they would review the email‑sharing concern and any Open Meetings Act implications raised by Mr. Dean.