By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET—A move by a newly elected School Committee member to hold a special 7 a.m. meeting has caused some division among committee members, particularly since one member will apparently be ineligible to participate.

At Monday night’s city inauguration ceremony, Joseph C. Knight lobbied fellow School Committee members for the Friday morning special meeting, then collected enough signatures for a quorum.  Five members signed the resolution, including Knight, David Coughlin, Raymond Noonan, James Chellel and Joanne Bonollo. Nicole Nordquist did not sign and Amy Lynn Breault was not present.
Breault, who said she could not attend the inauguration due to a prior commitment, had originally scheduled a private swearing-in with the mayor for Thursday, and later moved it to Friday at 10 a.m. 
Traditionally, the reorganization meeting where members elect the new chairman, deputy chairman and clerk has been held in executive session just prior to the start of the first School Committee meeting of the new year. The School Committee’s first meeting of 2009 has been scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 13.
The School Committee’s policy manual dictates that the reorganization should take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January. The policy further states that this meeting should be a regular meeting.
Knight called for the Friday morning session because he thinks it is important for the School Committee to have its officers in place as soon as possible. He said Tuesday that he would have preferred to see the School Committee reorganize immediately, on the night of the inauguration, as the City Council does. Since this didn’t occur, Knight didn’t want to go an entire week without a clear chain of command.
“You don’t leave an organization without leadership for over a week," Knight said. "That’s irresponsible.”
He questioned what would happen if there was an emergency and the schools superintendent and deputy superintendent were both unavailable. “What do you do?” he questioned.
Breault, however, said she was angry at learning about the reorganization meeting through a voice mail message Tuesday. Since she won’t be sworn in until later on Friday, she will be unable to vote on the reorganization.
Breault also questioned the meeting’s early start time, and Knight's lobbying efforts on inauguration night. “This was back-door politics at its worst,” Breault stated.
Nicole Nordquist agrees that Breault should have been polled along with the other members about the reorganization meeting. She also thinks the Friday morning meeting violates the School Committee policy calling for the vote to be taken on the first Tuesday following the first Monday, and at a regular meeting, which would be the one scheduled for Jan. 13.
Of the other members, David Coughlin said the idea for the Friday meeting was Knight’s, but that he agreed with it. Joanne Bonollo said she was indifferent on the matter, so she agreed to sign on.
School Committeeman James Chellel said that when Knight brought the proposal to him, he agreed that it made sense. “He just wants us to get our house in order before next Tuesday,” Chellel said.
Knight said the 7 a.m. start suited members who had to get to work. He also maintained that if the policy is going to be adhered to about holding a meeting on  the first Tuesday after the first Monday, it should have been held yesterday.
As to Breault not being able to vote, Knight said he had heard that she was getting sworn in on Thursday and didn’t realize she had moved her date to Friday. Even with that, he maintained that Breault could make other arrangements to be sworn in if she so desired..