HOULTON — The SAD 29 board of directors inadvertently held an illegal executive session prior to the start of a regular school board meeting Tuesday night.

The executive session was called for 6 p.m., one hour before the start of the regular meeting, to discuss possible staff reductions with representatives of the local teachers association.

The association had requested to meet with the board before the regular meeting to offer its response to possible staff and program cuts that had been proposed at a December board meeting to offset a $117,000 loss in state aid to education to the district.

According to Superintendent of Schools William McDonnell, the session was scheduled as a convenience to board members who were planning to meet anyway. He said his Jan. 9 notice to board members scheduling the executive session was an error and should have referred to the meeting as a negotiations meeting.

The possibility of the illegal session stemmed from the fact that at no time did the board vote in an open public session to go into executive session, nor was the reason for that executive session publicly stated first.

Maine’s Freedom of Access Law, Chapter 13, subchapter 1, sec. 405, requires that a vote in public session be taken for an executive session and that the purpose of that session be specifically stated. Discussion in executive session is limited to the stated reason.

McDonnell said that at no time during the executive session did the board discuss any action to be taken during the regular meeting, other than what its response would be to the teachers offer to take two furlough days.

When the board returned to open session, Board Chairman Elizabeth Childers stated that the board had been in executive session to discuss negotiations with the teachers’ association.

A vote was taken by the board to reduce the current operating budget by more than $68,000, excluding teaching staff and program cuts. The cuts had been proposed at the December meeting, but action had been tabled until it was known what the state would do about aid to schools.

After the vote, Childers made a statement on behalf of the board that no further reductions would be made by the board until the teachers had the opportunity to consider a request from the board that the teachers reduce their salaries.

McDonnell said Childers statement was merely the board’s response to the teachers’ offer, and that no vote had been taken on the matter during the executive session.

“There was no vote on it,” he said. “Their response was that they wouldn’t consider further reductions. We didn’t even discuss the first nine reductions (which were approved).”

McDonnell said he was being careful not to repeat the wording mistake again and planned to schedule future executive sessions as part of the regular meeting agenda.