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Board debate centers on whether superintendent retreat should be open; attorney says evaluator matters can be closed
Summary
Board members debated whether parts of a planned retreat should be open under New Jersey's Open Public Meetings Act. Board counsel advised that establishing superintendent goals and evaluative measures is personnel business that may be discussed in closed session; the board voted to enter closed session.
At the Dec. 4 meeting the East Brunswick Board of Education spent an extended portion of its time discussing whether the upcoming board retreat should be open to the public under the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and whether the superintendent’s 100‑day plan and goals must be discussed in public or may be addressed in closed session.
One board member cited guidance from the New Jersey School Boards Association that "if a quorum of the board and you intend to discuss public business, then the OPMA applies." Another board member urged splitting topics: discuss district goals in public and reserve strictly evaluative discussions for closed session. Several board members said the new superintendent had been on the job only a few days and argued for giving her private time with the board to set goals and expectations.
Board attorney Mr. Jacobe advised the board that setting the superintendent’s goals and establishing evaluation measures is evaluative personnel business and therefore falls within OPMA exceptions permitting closed-session discussion. "You're not violating OPMA," he told the board, but he added that if the board veered into topics that were not evaluative, he would advise that those portions be held in public. He recommended that once the board and superintendent agree on goals, the board present the agreed goals to the public at a subsequent meeting.
Members expressed both views. Some said transparency favored discussing district goals openly; others said it would be unfair to the new superintendent to finalize goals and measurements in public during her first weeks. The board also discussed how the 100‑day plan contains deliverables that could make portions of that plan evaluative.
After deliberation the board moved, seconded and voted to enter closed session to discuss the agenda items identified as permissible under OPMA; the closed session was estimated to last three hours and the public meeting was recessed. The chair said action would not be taken that night on those closed items.
