Meeting 'Got out of Hand,' School Committee Chair Says

Attleboro residents have a chance to find out tonight what was learned through recent focus groups on the search for a school district superintendent. They also may be able to find out what School Committe Chair Mike Tyler believes should and should not happen at committee meetings.

Tyler told Attleboro Patch earlier this week he was bothered by how the meeting on Monday was run in his absence by Vice Chair Brenda Furtado. Among the incidents he did not care for were comments made during open forum by school district parent Jen Crowder that included criticisms of Committee member David Murphy and Superintendent Pia Durkin (look for more information about Crowder's complaint on Patch later this week).

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"The school committee should not be utilized to make personal attacks against members of the administration and the school committee," Tyler said. "What happened during open forum was unacceptable."

He added, "The meeting got out of hand and I will be addressing this on Thursday in more detailed fashion."

Patch told Furtado what Tyler said, and she responded that she had not heard from the chair, and was disappointed he had contacted the media prior to contacting her. She also disagreed with his analysis of how the meeting, including open forum, functioned.

"Open forum is for the community to voice their concerns when their concerns are not being addressed at the school/administration level," wrote Furtado in an email. "[Monday] night's open forum was not used for personal attacks and all open forum guidelines were adhered to." 

Tonight's school committee meeting is scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. in Room 178E of Attleboro High School.