Lowell School Committee votes to enter executive session to discuss collective bargaining, litigation and personnel

The Lowell School Committee voted on Aug. 4, 2026 to recess into executive session to discuss collective bargaining strategies, potential litigation and personnel matters. The Chair read a motion outlining the reasons for the executive session and called for a second; Member Bahu moved the motion and Member Martin seconded it.

The Chair read the motion describing the committee's authority to meet in private, saying the executive session would cover "collective bargaining strategies and or possible litigation under open meeting law chapter 30 a, section 21 a b 2 3 of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts general laws" and other personnel matters. The Clerk conducted a roll-call vote; members answered in the affirmative. The transcript records an affirmative outcome and later says "7 years," which appears to be a transcription error likely meaning "7 ayes." The committee then prepared to recess into executive session.

The motion, as read, included consideration of terms of employment for unaffiliated personnel, requests about sick-leave benefits, a proposal related to temporary principal assignments, and claims related to sick-leave buyback and negotiations involving data office personnel. The Chair characterized these topics as matters that "open meeting discussion may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigation position of the public body." No substantive public discussion of those subjects occurred in open session; the committee moved to private session to continue deliberations.

The meeting record shows the committee followed the statutory executive-session notice language. The transcript contains minor inconsistencies in the spelling of one member's name (appearing as both "Bahau" and "Bahu" in different segments) and a shorthand tally reading of "7 years" that is likely a transcription error; those points are noted in the committee record for clarification.