The Andover School Committee violated the state Open Meeting Law by when three members discussed by email the board’s response to a private school’s application to operate in Andover, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office said in a Nov. 22 ruling.
In his ruling, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Lindberg said former school committee members Joel Blumstein and Tracey Spruce did not violate the law when they discussed a memo outlining the school district’s arguments for denying Fusion Academy’s application to open a school in Andover in 2019. But the law was broken when Blumstein forwarded the documents to former Chair Shannon Scully, creating a quorum of the five-member school committee.
Lindberg said sharing these arguments with a quorum of the committee constituted the type of deliberation the Open Meeting Law is designed to prevent. He did not, however, find the violation to be intentional because the AG had not previously warned the Committee about deliberating outside a posted meeting.
Andover resident David Matson filed a request for the public records in June, and appealed to the AG’s office when that request was denied. Friday’s ruling orders the release of the emails and attachments within 30 days under the state public records law.
“We further order immediate and future compliance with the law’s requirements and we caution that similar future violations may be considered evidence of intent to violate the law,” Lindberg wrote.
Fusion in seeking $4 million in lost revenue, interest and attorney fees in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston after having applications to open a private school in Andover twice denied by the school committee.
The company, which runs schools for students in grades 6-12 who struggle in normal school settings, is seeking $2.6 million for the 10-year lease it signed at 3 Dundee Park Drive in September 2018 and $1.4 million for its build out of the site.
By policy, the Town and APS do not comment on active litigation.
Among the allegations in Fusion’s lawsuit are claims the school committee violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law and an accusation that Berman starting working with members of the committee to draft a press release announcing the denial of Fusion’s application a month before the committee voted.