Gazette: 3 Mont. Co. residents claim part of superintendent search done in private

Three Montgomery County residents claim part of superintendent search done in private
Complaint alleges public shut out of candidate interviews
by Andrew Ujifusa, Staff Writer

The Montgomery County Board of Education is fending off allegations from three Montgomery County residents that the board did not meet the legal standard for transparency during the search to replace Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast, who is retiring June 30. The three residents, Paula Bienenfeld, Rosanne Hurwitz, and Louis Wilen, have filed a complaint with the state attorney general’s office.

Specifically, the residents allege that more notice should have been given for a meeting of community members where superintendent candidates were interviewed, and it should have been open to the general public. The school board countered late last month that the 16-member community panel’s meetings were informally convened and therefore not subject to the state’s open meetings laws.

The three residents also argued that the agenda and minutes from three closed meetings should have been published. The school system did announce April 12 that the community panel would be interviewing finalists.

Three of the community members at the meetings were identified in the complaint as Kristin Trible, president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, Fred Stichnoth, an advocate for Gifted and Talented education programs, and Tom Jones. The complaint said the remaining members have not been identified.
The 16-member panel gave its feedback on finalists to the school board...

article continues here