Waterford – The Board of Education has changed the location of its 7 p.m. meeting today from Town Hall to the cafetorium of Clark Lane Middle School in anticipation of high turnout, according to Joyce Cumming, administrative assistant to Superintendent Jerome Belair.

The board is slated to discuss the terms of Belair’s contract during executive session and may take action during the meeting. The contract has drawn criticism from the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut union.

The union purchased an advertisement in the Sunday edition of The Day urging residents to voice opposition to Belair’s current contract, which the board has voted to extend through the 2015-16 school year.

The contract, ratified in September after Belair announced his intention to retire in June, divides the $220,000 salary originally slated for Belair for the 2014-15 school year between salary and retirement benefits. Of the $220,000, Belair is receiving $99,000 as salary and $121,000 as retirement benefits. The deal has allowed Belair to begin collecting $140,000 in pension benefits from the Connecticut Teachers Retirement Board.

AFT Connecticut Communications Coordinator Matt O’Connor said Monday that his organization was questioning the legality of the contract and is worried it may set a precedent for other school systems. Connecticut Teachers’ Retirement Board Director Darlene Perez said in an October interview that Belair’s contract did not violate state law. She said, however, that the contract was not in the spirit of the law.