Tonight's Portsmouth School Committee meeting featured great presentations on our Middle School Tutors and Regional Special Ed -- and I will write about that tomorrow. But for me, the agenda was hijacked by Committee member Jamie Heaney, who wasn't even there, but who has confidential school documents in his possession and is refusing to turn them in.

"Our committee has always had a practice of turning in confidential data," said Richard Carpender, "But we have one member who is refusing because we don't have a policy."

Carpender did not mention Heaney by name when he introduced the amendment (which passed 4-1) to the School Committee bylaws which now requires confidential material be returned to the Superintendent when consideration is complete (sometimes at the end of a meeting, sometimes at the conclusion of a particular matter.) Penalties will include censure and requiring those not in compliance to review material at the school administration building.

When Michael Buddmeyer (who made a point of saying that HE had turned all his materials in) moved to delay the motion until the full Committee was present, it came out that Heaney, and not the other absent member, Doug Wilkie, was the cause of the rule change.

Without being specific about this instance, Marge Levesque described the kind of documents: "This is material related to home schooling, layoffs, retirement -- and these people have a right to privacy."

Larry Fitzmorris got up to attack the by-law change. He attempted to spin this not about privacy, but about doing things in secret: "Is it the intent of this change to provide for signing and negotiation of contracts in executive session?" And he asked this question, over and over, in different language, for about five minutes, with Carpender answering the same each time, "This relates to confidential documents."

But do you see what he's doing? By getting up and saying things, over and over, Fitzmorris aims to create the impression of truth -- or at least suspicion -- through repetition.

The School Committee deals with all manner of sensitive material about our children, and the PCC is now on record as opposing the kind of elementary privacy protection you would take for granted in any other institution charged with holding private data. Would you want your kid's school discipline records floating out there?

It could even be argued that once the Superintendent requests the documents be returned, Heaney's action contravenes The Rhode Island Educational Records Bill of Rights RIGL 16-71-3 (7):
The right to have the records kept confidential and not released to any other individual, agency or organization without prior written consent of the parent, legal guardian or eligible student, except to the extent that the release of the records is authorized by the provisions of 20 U.S.C. § 1232g or other applicable law or court process.

In an interesting little bit of synchronicity, the RI Ethics Commission's attorney, Jason Grammit, will be speaking to the Town Council and School Committee next Wednesday, March 21 at 7pm. I might just ask him how the Ethics Commission would see a School Committee member behaving in this fashion.

Hey PCC supporters, if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

Say it with me: WHAT DOES JAMIE HEANEY HAVE?