Board members clash over legal spending and who may contact outside counsel

A heated exchange at the Clintondale Community Schools board meeting focused on invoices to the district’s outside counsel and whether the board president has unilateral authority to contact that firm.

Finance Committee Chair Powers framed the issue as a governance question and said the committee is collecting records and questions about legal invoices and the process for contacting counsel. "This body is a sovereign unit of local government," Powers said as he described the committee’s review work and requested records and opinions.

Trustees raised specific concerns about fees charged by Thrun Law and whether some work billed as board matters should have gone to the superintendent’s office. One trustee said the district spent roughly $85,000 in 2021, $67,000 in 2022, $169,000 in 2023, $69,000 in 2024 and had year-to-date invoices of about $152,000 as of May 11, 2026 (figures were cited during debate and attributed to invoice review by trustees).

Trustee Wilson and others argued that contacting outside counsel for what they described as internal board disputes is wasteful and can create procedural problems. "It's almost on the verge of abuse of power," said a trustee during the discussion about the president’s communications with counsel. Board President Maynard maintained the board had acted appropriately and repeatedly said the district had followed applicable process.

Trustees agreed on process steps: policy and finance committees will examine who may contact outside counsel, determine cost limits and identify local law firms for comparison. The board asked staff to assemble documents and proposals and return recommendations in upcoming meetings.

Why it matters: Board use of outside counsel has budgetary implications and raises governance questions about separation of political decisions and day-to-day administration. Trustees said clearer guidelines and local law-firm options could reduce costs and improve transparency.

What the board directed: Referral of review to the policy committee (to draft rules for when and who may contact counsel) and to the finance committee (to research alternative law firms and price comparisons). No formal vote on terminating the district’s relationship with Thrun Law was recorded during the meeting; trustees said they would bring proposals back to the board for discussion.