New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
BOE seeks to codify $30K counsel expense
NEW HAVEN — For roughly a year, a city attorney has offered the Board of Education legal guidance, represented the school board in negotiations, assisted with parliamentary procedure and helped to process freedom of information requests.
The trouble is, no one seems to be sure how he got into a position of representing the school board.
Although attorney Elia Alexiades’ employer is the city’s office of Corporation Counsel, he has been the school board’s attorney since late 2019. Despite that, some school board members said they were surprised to learn that a reimbursement for his services was coming out of their budget.
“I don’t remember the Board of Education ever approving any kind of resolution or board motion or anything related to us paying for a corporation counsel attorney,” said school board member Darnell Goldson, who was president of the board at the time when Alexiades began working for the district.
“I’m not quite sure how we paid for another organization’s employee without having some sort of agreement or contract,” Goldson said.
District CFO Phil Penn, who started in that job in November 2019, said district officials were able to find evidence that former Superintendent of Schools
Carol Birks included the legal position in the budget that was approved by the board but they were unable to find any reference to it in the board minutes. Birks officially departed the district Oct. 31, 2019, before current Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey signed paperwork to become interim superintendent on Nov. 1.
The school board paid $20,000 to the city in the last fiscal year, a pro-rated rate for the $30,000 it is expected to reimburse the city annually.
Board member Matt Wilcox, chairman of the district’s Finance Committee, said he believes the $30,000 is “cost-effective” compared to the rates the board pays for outside legal counsel, but he believes there should be a codified agreement explaining the compensation structure for Alexiades.
Wilcox said that, since Alexiades began working for the school board, there is a new mayor, a new superintendent of schools, new members of the Board of Alders and new corporation counsel leadership.
“You don’t want $30,000 bills to pop up on our budget without our committee approving it or Dr. Tracey approving it or the board approving it,” said board member Larry Conaway, a member of the board’s Finance Committee.
Alexiades declined to comment for this story.