Falmouth school committee votes to cancel tonight’s executive session after posting dispute

Members of the Falmouth School Committee voted to cancel a planned executive session after several members argued the agenda items had been posted too late. The motion to cancel — and to post only the teacher memorandum of understanding for a separately noticed meeting — passed 4–3.

The motion’s mover said the items did not meet the statutory 48‑hour posting requirement and argued litigation and collective‑bargaining entries could not be used as a pretext to meet in executive session. An attorney present told the committee that a properly posted item listing purposes including collective bargaining, potential litigation and revision of executive minutes can support an executive session, but confirmed the general 48‑hour posting rule for meetings.

The mover clarified the committee’s direction: ‘‘For those two reasons, I motioned that we do not have executive session tonight, and we legally post solely the union MOU tomorrow morning for a meeting in the very near future.’’ A second speaker restated that a ‘‘yes’’ vote supported cancelling the executive session; a ‘‘no’’ vote would allow members to move into executive session.

After further debate about whether a motion on the floor could be amended to limit tonight’s executive session to the MOU, the chair announced the motion passed 4–3. The mover told the board she intended the subsequent properly noticed meeting to address only the teacher MOU and not the open‑meeting law complaint.

Next steps: the committee directed staff to re‑post the MOU item with at least 48 hours’ notice and to schedule a special meeting for executive session business as needed.