School Committee to Move Forward with of Review Wellman Data

Following a May 9 meeting with legal counsel, the Lexington School Committee will review data gathered during the compilation of the and potentially draw its own conclusions about the report with regard to alleged teacher moral issues within the district.

The Wednesday afternoon meeting saw the about how to approach and use the data – including slips of paper and redacted it interviews consultant Bruce Wellman conducted with district employees – committee members voted April 25 to review. 

According to Town Counsel Kevin Bott, School Committee members can review the data individually to deepen their understanding of Wellman’s report and the climate within the schools, but must use care in discussing their conclusions lest the data become a part of the public record.

Due to the private and personnel information contained in the data, counsel said it is not considered public record, but if discussed specifically in an open meeting, that piece could become a part of the public record, Bott explained.

“I don’t think there would be a problem if the School Committee members looked at these records, but it’s very difficult for you to use those records in any way other than background as a basis for your decision making,” Bott said.  “I wouldn’t want you to walk into a meeting with a fat stack of these records, because you run the risk of losing the exemption. … That’s the difficult line that you as a committee would have to walk if you were to access those records.”

Materials School Committee members said they’d like to review include strips of paper Wellman provided for the steering committee, packets of information distributed to school principals and the redacted data Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash and Lexington Education Association President Phyllis Neufeld saw. 

Those records will be aggregated to the district’s Central Office and available for School Committee members to review individually, most likely within the next few weeks. Additionally, School Committee Chairwoman Mary Ann Stewart will reach out to Wellman to ask that he provide any other information he gathered that could have informed his report.

Just what the School Committee will do with this information is unclear at this point. However, according to Stewart, there should be more clarity by next month, when the Steering Committee is due before the School Committee to further discuss the .

Additionally, the School Committee and counsel worked a plan for moving forward any concerns that may arise regarding the superintendent as a result of their data review. 

If while reviewing the data something strikes a School Committee member as a concern about Ash, he or she will contact counsel, who will determine whether the issue comes under an executive session exemption and notify the subject and the rest of the School Committee members.

Following a nearly two hours of discussion, a few members of the public rose to thank the school committee for what they’re doing.