PERU — A decision by the Peru School Board to go into an executive session during a meeting Monday night likely violated Indiana Open Door Law, according to the office of the Indiana Public Access Counselor.
The school board adjourned its public meeting for 12 minutes and went into executive session after a motion to extend administrative contracts and give those people raises failed.
The board voted again, on the same motion, following executive session. It passed.
Kassidy Kennedy, case coordinator with the Public Access Counselor, told the Tribune this was not the correct course of action as executive sessions must be posted 48 hours in advance.
“You can’t just stop a meeting for a small group session,” she said.
Indiana Public Access Law states an executive session must have 48-hour notice and state the time, date, location and what will be discussed.
An executive session is a meeting of a governmental body that is not open to the public.
Common reasons for these private meetings include discussions on collective bargaining, litigation and interviewing prospective employees.
Superintendent Jaime Cole called it an honest mistake Tuesday.
“It was not done maliciously or on purpose,” she said.
Cole, who is in her first year as superintendent, said she believed it was permissible due to her experience in Arizona and Virginia, where she previously worked.
“Moving forward, I will learn from this,” she said.
The administrative contracts up for a two-year extension and salary bump included Elmwood Elementary Principal Kristi Eddy, Athletic Director Colin Quin and various assistant principals.
The vote prior to the executive session failed with three yes votes, two no votes and two abstentions. Board members Tommie Beattie and Ron Mullett were the no votes.
“I voted no just simply because I think they should have got what our teachers got,” Beattie said.
Teachers received $4,200 raises, part of a one-year deal negotiated last fall. Peru Community Schools has one of the highest starting salaries in the area.
There was a brief discussion from board members about giving administrators more of a raise. Beattie made a motion akin to giving the administrators the same raise as everyone else, however Cole said employees all got different salary increases.
While teachers got $4,200, other employees got raises based on the wages of similar employees at other area schools. This was done to make Peru salaries more competitive.
Cole said the administrative increases were also done this way.
Board member Chris Wolfe asked if the issue could be revisited at the March meeting, but Cole said notification of contract renewal must be given by March 1.
She said an option was to go into executive session to discuss matters and then come back.
When the board reconvened following the private meeting, it voted on the same item that had failed. This time it passed with four yes votes, two no votes and one abstention.
Kennedy said the item should have been tabled. The board then could have scheduled an executive session with proper notice with voting taking place at a later public meeting.
“They would need to table that topic completely,” Kennedy said.
An executive session and public meeting can be held the same day. This is standard practice among many school boards, including Peru, which had one prior to Monday’s meeting. Kennedy said the two meetings just can’t happen at the same time.
Beattie and Mullett voted against the motion both times.
Mullett said discussions in November were about giving everyone the same salary increases.
“It’s not the same,” he said. “It puts a bad taste in my mouth. We’d like to be consistent so that being loyal to the corporation means something.”
Kennedy said any recourse is unlikely, unless someone challenges the board’s action in court. A court can overturn a board’s decision, though it is rare.
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