April McCullum

Free Press Staff Writer

Three Burlington school administrators resign from interim top leadership roles%2C citing tension with school board

Mayor Miro Weinberger calls situation %22unacceptable%22



School Board %22surprised and greatly disappointed%2C%22 will hold special meeting 6%3A30 p.m. Sunday

Burlington schools face a leadership vacuum — for the second time this year — as three top administrators step down, citing major strife with School Board members.

Stephanie Phillips, Paul Irish and Nikki Fuller announced Friday morning that they will resign from special interim roles they have held since the summer, while Burlington has lacked a permanent school superintendent. Phillips is interim superintendent.

The news came as a surprise to the School Board, though public records show Phillips and her team were cautious and upset about School Board member statements and actions dating back to her appointment in July.

In their resignation letter, the three administrators cited "continued disrespect" from the School Board and blamed board members for an unworkable professional climate.

"We regularly experience members of this Board choosing to disregard our expertise and sound advice, to disrespect us personally and professionally and to distrust our every action and deed," the group said in a letter to School Board Chairman Patrick Halladay, which was read aloud by Phillips. A group of school district staff stood behind them and applauded at the conclusion of the letter.

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Halladay, chairman of the Burlington School Board, and Board Clerk Liz Curry said they were "surprised and greatly disappointed" to hear of the resignations Friday.

"As board leadership, we are attempting as much as possible — we were attempting as much as possible to make their tenure in these interim roles fully supported," Halladay said at a short news conference Friday afternoon. "We're disappointed that they felt the situation was otherwise, and that they also felt it necessary to take such drastic action."

Halladay said individual board members needed to be responsible for how their actions had been interpreted.

The resignations take effect Nov. 10, when Phillips, Irish and Fuller plan to return to their normal respective roles as director of curriculum, director of infrastructure and technology, and director of human resources and equity affairs.

Halladay said he hopes to have a new interim superintendent in place by then.

Mayor Miro Weinberger and Vermont Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe also weighed in Friday, expressing concern and a commitment to help the district recover.

The Burlington School District may now need to search for an interim superintendent — to fill the role that was held by Phillips and the other administrators — in addition to an ongoing national search for a permanent superintendent.

School Board leaders had been planning to interview permanent superintendent candidates in January and select a new leader by February.

The School Board has called a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sunday to discuss the news.

Four months behind-the-scenes

In the letter, the administrators referenced "board members who regularly make email and public meeting comments that malign central office administrators." They did not name particular members.

The administrators said those board members have created the same office climate as in the spring, when seven of 14 "seasoned administrators" left their jobs. Phillips, Irish and Fuller were working hard without "any compensation" for their additional duties, they added.

"We have made repeated and documented efforts to get the Board leadership to work with us instead of against us; to work for the District, not against it," Phillips, Irish and Fuller added in a statement addressed to principals and district staff. "We have made request after request to the Board leadership to address these issues with no success and often with no response."

At the news conference Friday, Halladay said board leadership had, in fact, been working to address administrators' concerns. He acknowledged that board members' actions might have been interpreted negatively.

"While individual board members' comments may have been construed in one way or at times may have acted in ways that were less than constructive, individual board members need to be responsible for their own actions," Halladay said.

A reporter asked whether Halladay and Curry would name individual board members.

"We don't need to," Curry responded.

The Burlington Free Press requested public records from the school district that would document the School Board comments and actions — as well as the administrators' concerns.

The school administration released 40 pages of emails and other documents.

The emails begin in early July, just before Phillips, the curriculum director, was formally installed as interim superintendent. Phillips had been filling in for former superintendent Jeanne Collins since June. Collins stepped down at the end of June under a separation and settlement agreement with the School Board.

In that first email, and in subsequent letters and emails, Phillips laid out expectations for School Board member conduct. The School Board does not run the school district, she emphasized. Board members oversee the district's operations.

Phillips was later appointed interim superintendent by a 6-4 vote — not enough, she wrote.

"It makes it appear that I barely have the support of the slightest possible majority of the board," Phillips wrote in a letter to Halladay dated July 12. "This will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for me to be your leader over the next several months."

In the following months, Phillips wrote that board members continually questioned the administration's decisions and candor, particularly about financial issues such as the amount of a possible budget deficit.

Phillips and Irish typically directed their written comments to Halladay, though any responses from Halladay in those conversations were not released by the school district Friday.

Some of the emails reference comments in meetings of the School Board or the board's Finance Committee. The administration also released emails from particular board members, including multiple emails from Commissioner Miriam Stoll, and a public records request from Commissioner Scot Shumski about the fiscal 2014 financial situation.

In the Sept. 30 letter, Phillips asked for "a change in chairmanship of the Finance Committee," a position currently held by Stoll, as well as other requests.

"With all due respect, our confidence in the Board acting right and our patience have been almost totally depleted," Phillips wrote. She warned that the three administrators were considering returning to their old jobs.

Reached Friday evening, Stoll said she had not seen the documents and was not present at meetings where administrators' concerns were discussed; therefore, she was unable to comment.

Shumski said the public records request was the only email he had sent directly to school administrators in recent months, and that all of his correspondence and comments had been respectful.

"When I saw that statement I was stunned by it," Shumski said of the allegations in the administrators' resignation letter, "because I'm not aware of any board members' activity that met what they were talking about in that statement."

On Sept. 30, Phillips wrote to Halladay that administrators were "routinely blamed" for decisions made by the previous administration. She requested a meeting with Halladay, Curry, and school district lawyer Joe McNeil. It is unclear whether that meeting took place, though Phillips did make notes titled "Notes for Oct. 7 Meeting."

"Please, do not underestimate either our frustration or our resolve to act professionally but expeditiously if this final call for help is disregarded or not effectively responded to," Phillips wrote in her notes.

At a news conference Friday, the Burlington Free Press asked Halladay how he had responded to Phillips' request for new Finance Committee leadership and a vote of support for the administrative team.

"Interim Superintendent Phillips and I have had regular and productive discussions ever since she came on in her position," Halladay said. "I was well aware of her frustrations and had been working with her toward them."

"So did you do anything in response to her concerns?" the Free Press replied.

"Regardless of the situation, the current situation, the board is always looking at ways to be more effective," Halladay said. He said the School Board had made a statement of support for the administrative team in August or September.

Reactions from the mayor and state

Mayor Weinberger said the breakdown of relationships within the Burlington School District that led to the resignations represented a "failure of leadership."

"This is unacceptable," Mayor Weinberger said at a news conference. "Burlingtonians will not tolerate this level of failure of leadership which puts our children's education at risk."

The mayor spoke at about 3:10 p.m. Friday, before the School Board had publicly responded to the resignations, and indicated that he was unaware of exactly what happened.

Weinberger said the resignations appeared to represent a "breakdown on both sides," both board and administration. "But I really can't — I have no window into beyond that, what happened," Weinberger said.

The mayor also said that the School Board is ultimately responsible for the district, expressed sympathy for the challenges facing School Board members and thanked district staff and teachers for their work during a difficult time.

Weinberger also offered to help in the search for a new interim superintendent and permanent superintendent.

Mayor Weinberger said despite Friday's news, he was still hopeful about the superintendent search — the immediate task at hand.

"I think there is some challenge there," Weinberger said. "I also think Burlington is a wonderful city, a wonderful place, and the opportunity to be the superintendent here is going to appeal to the right, great individual. ... It does require the School Board to step up here and get us through this challenging time."

Friday's resignation announcement followed a period of tumult in Burlington schools. Several administrators left the district during the spring, and former Superintendent Collins and former finance director David Larcombe stepped down at the end of June.

The new finance director, Nathan Lavery, and a new property services director, Martin Spaulding, were scheduled to start work on Monday.

The School Board has also seen significant turnover this year: Out of 14 seats, six turned over in regular March elections. An additional three School Board members have resigned since March, and their seats have been filled by three new members.

All 14 School Board seats are up for election in March — a fact Halladay and Curry pointed out at their news conference.

"I would urge each board member to reflect on the stance that he or she has taken, and to make sure that we're all representing the will of our community," Halladay said.

Rebecca Holcombe, Vermont secretary of education, said her agency has been monitoring Burlington's situation and "will respond as warranted," including helping a timely search for a new interim superintendent.

"Above all, the board needs to recommit to the integrity and efficiency of a search for a new full-time superintendent, and commit to getting behind the new superintendent so he or she can do the important work of serving the children of Burlington," Holcombe said in a statement.

What now?

Burlington School Board has scheduled a public meeting for 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26 in the Ira Allen Board Room of the school district offices at 150 Colchester Ave. After a public forum, board members will discuss next steps. The meeting will likely also include an executive session.

Under state law, the School Board has the sole authority to appoint a superintendent, with the advice of the state Secretary of Education.

Mayor Miro Weinberger has offered assistance in the searches for interim and permanent superintendents. That could include phone calls and other outreach, the mayor said.

READ THE RESIGNATION LETTER:

READ THE REACTION FROM SCHOOL BOARD LEADERS:

EARLIER:Stephanie Phillips to serve as acting superintendent.

Contact April Burbank at (802) 660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank