Members of the School Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 15 were scheduled to be briefed by legal counsel James Toomey on the panel’s role involving district personnel issues. They will also conduct a detailed discussion on the fiscal 2013 budget.

The personnel briefing was requested by members of the board after a group of people spoke at the Feb. 8 open discussion period, taking them off guard. The group organized via e-mail chain only hours before the meeting, chairman Robert Hayes said.

Speakers appeared to be offering support of the wrestling coach, but were told no names or specific incidents were to be mentioned. After the open discussion concluded, board members indicated they felt embarrassed at not knowing what it was all about and asked how much they could know about personnel decisions.

Decisions on personnel matters rest with school administrators, specifically the superintendent of schools and/or principal.

“I guess I’m a little embarrassed by this, because I have no idea what’s going on,” said committee member Robert Trotta after the speakers concluded. He asked if an executive session could be called to fill them in, but Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said the person was not available and new open meeting rules required the presence of the person being discussed.

“This situation doesn’t really involve the School Committee, in terms of condifentiality, I really can’t tell you,” she said, adding there is an investigation under way. “We have many personnel issues that come before the school district over time, most has no impact on the School Committee.”

Mark Giove of Whitman opened the comment period with a heart-felt description of how the person in question helped him and his family deal with their 4-year-old’s battle with brain cancer while Giove was laid off from his job.

“I tried to stay positive and show strength for my family, but it was difficult,” Giove said. He then ran across his old friend who asked how things were going. He filled the man in on his child’s brave fight and vented his frustration of setbacks while doing the best he could to provide for his family.

Unbeknownst to Giove, his friend took some action. Soon checks started coming to the house to help the family with no expectation of repayment — just a wish for Giove to pay it forward.

“It restored my faith in humanity and gave me a new energy to get out there and make the best of this,” Giove said. “He is the definition of selflessness. I am proud to call him my friend and I wish there were more people in the world like him — I hope you can reconsider your decision.”

School Committees members wanted to know how much information they could be made aware of in an effort to give them talking points when members of the community asked what the issue involved.

“If I read this right, it’s the beginning of an attempt to create community interest in this issue,” member Michael Kryzanek said. “I’d like to have some guidance from you about how to deal with this because I expect to get phone calls now, I expect to be stopped in the middle of town about this, and I think all of us deserve to have some idea how to deal with this.”

Gilbert-Whitner said the group’s appearance had been “a total surprise” to her and Hayes who were made aware of it “about two minutes before School Committee started.” She said there was no effort to make the committee members uncomfortable or at a loss for what was going on, but that process and procedure was being followed. The incident in question took place in November and has been under investigation since.

“We really understand the importance of the safety of our students,” she said. “There was no intent to keep people in the dark.”

Giove and several others noted that what saddened them most was that an effort to help another, some indicated it may have been a student, was misconstrued.

Others mentioned how the person made sure wrestling team members did 45 minutes of study before practice, helping them get grades that got them accepted at big-name universities such as Boston College and the service academies.

A former coach, Dave Armstrong of Bourne, who is also an alumnus, said the group was there to support ,”a teacher that we would  want around our sons and daughters.” He indicate problems students face are not always cut-and-dried and when help they do not receive at home is offered by faculty, the intent should be considered.

“I just don’t want you to think this is an isolated group,” said Terence McSweeney of Hanson. “I urge you to make sure you listen to the voices of the community.”

Jeff Bescher, an associate coach of the wrestling team also spoke in favor of the person, as did acting head coach Jeff Flanagan, a 2005 W-H graduate.

“When somebody does something right, it shouldn’t be looked at as doing something wrong,” Flanagan said.