The Portland School Committee defended its right to hold an executive session last week in its formal response Thursday to a lawsuit filed by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

The newspaper claims the panel broke the law because the closed-door session related to an estimated $2.5 million budget gap -- information the publication says should be public under the Maine Freedom of Access Act.

But the school committee said the budget was not the focus of the discussion. The point of the private meeting, it contends, was to protect the privacy and reputation of school administrators being questioned on their duties.

The committee has rejected the newspaper's request for records related to the July 25 meeting, which include notes taken by two school committee members and a paper outlining Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor's leadership philosophy.

Both parties have agreed, however, to move the case along as quickly as possible and have requested that a judge expedite the hearing schedule.