The Hermitage school board met behind closed doors at 9 a.m. Saturday to discuss issues that have roused public interest the past two months.

The central issue -- the board’s December decision, 6 votes to 3, to open Superintendent Dr. Louis C. Mastrian’s contract -- has led to overflow crowds at meetings and a questioning of other board decisions by residents.

Saturday’s meeting leads to a vote that could keep Mastrian at the district helm for another year.

All nine board members attended Saturday morning’s closed-door executive session and had a "healthy discussion" that lasted about two hours, said President Duane J. Piccirilli. An executive session, from which the public is excluded, can be held to discuss personnel matters such as Mastrian’s contract.

Saturday’s session focused on a motion made last month by Matt DeJulia, a 16-year board member, to give Mastrian a one-year interim contract when his current contract expires in June. The motion would keep the seven-year superintendent at the helm through completion of the district’s $24 million high school building project, scheduled for completion in early summer of next year.

Two board members who voted against Mastrian’s contract renewal said they may have voted differently had they been able to give Mastrian the one-year deal he wanted; state law says superintendents’ contracts have to be three, four or five years. The interim deal was a legal way around that law, DeJulia said.

DeJulia’s motion, tabled last month for further discussion, will be put to a vote at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 12, prior to the regularly scheduled work session, Piccirilli said. The district will advertise the meeting next week, Piccirilli said.

"We’re doing that because the board should address this important issue and get on with running the business of the district," Piccirilli said.

"After the vote Monday (the 12th), the board and the district will move on," Piccirilli said.