Police arrest woman before school meeting

WATKINS GLEN--Watkins Glen Village Police arrested Kristina Hansen, Hector resident and former school board candidate, prior to the Watkins Glen school board meeting Monday, March 21, that began at 5:45 p.m. She was led away in handcuffs after Watkins Glen Superintendent Tom Phillips stopped her on the sidewalk and ordered her to leave. When she refused, Hansen was arrested and charged with trespass.
This incident stems from a conflict the morning of Friday, March 11. Hansen said she wanted to attend a staff meeting in regards to the budget. She said she questioned the legality of just inviting board members to this staff meeting.
"It is my understanding that board members had no additional legal authority outside of a convened meeting than any other parent has," Hansen said.
Hansen went to the school to request admittance to the meeting, claiming Phillips acted very aggressive toward her, insisting she leave. She was later escorted back to her car by police.
Hansen said she was banned from the property following this meeting and received a written letter later that day (March 11) from the superintendent requiring her to obtain written permission from him prior to attending anything on school grounds. Phillips confirmed this was the process she was asked to follow.
"The person involved was requested to follow a simple process to gain access to the property," Phillips said in a statement Tuesdaymorning. "This person could have attended the school board meeting without incident had they followed that process, but they chose not to."
Knowing the board meeting was approaching, Hansen said she had contacted the New York Committee on Open Government, who sent her an email telling her no one can be banned from an open meeting under the law without a court order. She sent this email to the school resource officer and board president prior to the March 21 meeting, while also informing them of her intent to attend the meeting. Hansen claims Phillips was waiting for her prior to the 5:45 p.m. meeting, noting the police were also waiting for her arrival.
Hansen said prior to these events, she had received no verbal warnings or reprimands during board meetings, nor was she ever asked to leave during one.
Hansen has been critical of the Watkins Glen school district in the past, having filed a Title IX complaint in 2014 for alleged unequal sports opportunities for girls. The district later agreed to implement a resolution agreement to address procedure concerns with the district's Title IX compliance. She has also taken her complaints to Twitter, using the hashtag "#FireTomPlease" in a tweet referencing the school's technology programs. Hansen said she has already contacted a lawyer about this recent incident and intends to take the district to court.
"We are not engaging in any of it," Phillips said. "It is what it is."
Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York Committee on Open Government, said Phillips' order for Hansen to not enter school buildings without written permission should not apply to open meetings of the school board.
"I think [Phillips' order to not enter school grounds] is OK, except in the case of her right to attend as a member of the public pursuant to the open meetings law," Freeman said. "She can go to a meeting of the school board, and I don't believe the superintendent has the right to preclude anyone from attending. You could be from Watkins Glen or Timbuktu and it wouldn't matter, unless there was a court order prohibiting so-and-so from attending. To my mind, the prohibition is invalid and contrary to law. They may not like each other, but that is not a good enough reason for precluding so-and-so from the meeting."
Freeman said every board has the right to establish reasonable rules to govern their own proceedings, which can include things like decorum, outbursts, demonstrations and disruptions during meetings. While he noted these rules could lead to someone being ejected from a meeting, he does not believe an order preventing someone from entering without being disruptive would stand up in court. Freeman emphasized a comment is not disruptive, but is an assertion of one's First Amendment rights.