BUFFALO, N.Y. — Members of the Buffalo Public School Board said the district's legal team is evaluating a lawsuit filed by Carl Paladino. The local developer accused the school of violating state law by improperly discussing the appointment of a new superintendent behind closed doors.

"The board is confident that it has at all times complied with the open meeting law," President Mary Ruth Kapsiak.

The board said while personnel matters were discussed in executive sessions, no decisions were made outside of the board meeting.

Members balked at Paladino's claim there was a lack of transparency in the process.

"We got as much input from the public as possible, and I must say it worked, because we received a lot of emails, a lot of letters, a lot of public contact with people in the community," Board Member Rosalyn Taylor said.

"You're always going to have some folks that agree with the selection and folks that don't agree with the selection," Board Member Ralph Hernandez said. "Based on the information that we had, that we read in the interviews that we conducted, we feel that Dr. Brown was the best candidate. So we made that choice."

Paladino has also questioned the hiring of Pamela Brown as a consultant for $800 a day until her contract is finalized.

The board said it needed to get Brown on the payroll as soon as possible.

"We normally start proceedings for school openings in June and it is now July. A transitional contract was absolutely necessary," Kapsiak said.

Board members said Paladino's claim that Brown is not qualified is simply wrong.

"Dr. Brown certainly stands far above the rest of candidates," Kapsiak said. "So therefore, I don't know what he is looking for or what he thinks is necessary for a person to have to run a school district."

The board plans to address Brown's longterm contract at the next board meeting on July 11th, the same day the lawsuit is scheduled to go before a judge.