HalladayOkay, we're gonna go ahead and call the meeting to order.

I know there are a couple of board members who are running a couple of minutes late, and one who will be here about a half an hour late, who's been down visiting parents. So we're going to go ahead and get started, start with the Pledge of Allegiance.

[pledge]

All right.

As always, I'd like to start with a welcome. The board wishes to recognize, welcome and thank those who are providing language interpretation of the board proceedings.

The board's commitment that all children receive equitable academic services must ensure that new American parents are welcome and can attend meetings, understand the process and be actively engaged.

Interpretation of proceedings honors, respects and values our new American parents and students. The board asks the public to respect and understand the importance of this interpretation.

Next we have approval of the agenda. If I can get a motion to approve the agenda? Commissioner Seguino, seconded by... Commissioner Garrison. Are there any amendments to the agenda, changes? Commissioner Curry.

CurryI would like to move to amend the agenda so that the public comment follows our discussion of recent events regarding the resignation.

HalladayCan we get a second for that, please? Seconded by Commissioner Seguino. Any other amendments to the agenda? Commissioner Stoll?

StollI'd like to add — Brian Cina asked me to add to the end of agenda a item where he'd just like to update us on some issues about the superintendent search.

HalladayAll right. Can we get a second for that? Commissioner Kirk, seconded. Any further additions, amendments to the agenda? Hearing none, moving forward, all in favor of the amended agenda, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayAll opposed? All right. We have an agenda. So we are going to be moving public comment, kind of incorporating it with some of the — per the change in the agenda, some of the discussion that's going to be going on here.

Oh, and you know what? I failed to do a roll call. I'm going to go ahead and go down, just to make sure we have who's here. Commissioner Dodson?

[roll call: Dodson, Porter, Curry, Giannoni, Shumski, Stoll, Seguino, Matson, Kirk, and Garrison are present. Cina, Kleman, Truman are not]

Why I had you marked down not here... All right.

So, I want to start by thanking all present for their attendance this evening on short notice. I know that this is far from an ideal location to hold a meeting. But costs for technology and other issues at Burlington High School made that prohibitive.

Your presence demonstrates the deep value the community places in its public schools. Emotions are high because we all care. It’s important to keep discourse productive, civil and respectful. We are here tonight in part due to at least a perceived lack of civility, so let's ensure that we don't repeat those mistakes.

As chair of the board I'd like to make some brief comments to the Burlington School District staff, to our administrators, to our citizens and to the board. On behalf of the board, I first want to thank all of our principals, teachers and staff who are keeping the district operating well in the midst of our leadership challenges.

We value your contributions and want you to know that we appreciate all that you do every day. Students are being well-served by your commitment despite the other issues going on. We understand that we must improve our ability to provide guidance and support for this district if we are to move forward over the long run.

But tomorrow morning parents will walk with their kids to schools, teachers will have innovative lessons planned to challenge and engage our students. Their schools will remain a source of pride, engagement and safety that they have always been.

Again, to that we must thank our teachers, including the recently named Vermont Teacher of the Year and alternate, both from Burlington, the principals and students for doing the good work they've always done.

To our administrators, we want to thank you for your service. I want to thank you for your service. Despite the decision that our senior administrators felt necessary to take, over the course of the past few months there have been several accomplishments that cannot go unnoticed, in particular around putting us in a much more sound financial footing, and hiring new finance and facilities directors.

I commend you for your hard work and realize that the challenges were immense, made more difficult by the passions of the board members, and the job became more complicated than you had envisioned.

We accept your resignation. To our citizens, we want you to know that as a board, we are aware that we have a job to do, and we intend to do it. Our obligation is to ensure on your behalf that an excellent education is being provided for all Burlington students, and to ensure Burlington taxpayers are getting good value for the dollars spent.

In short, we're obligated on behalf of the citizens of Burlington and the children of the city to ensure that the Burlington schools are being operated in an effective, efficient and ethical manner. We are responsible for creating and guiding a strong and healthy organization to plan and carry out an exceptional education program, and to create a climate which encourages excellence and respect at all levels.

We intend to do that. To my fellow board members, we are an exceedingly young board. All of us have joined the board for different reasons, and all of us have different visions of what good education looks like. We also all share a desire to see our district succeed. As such, we must accelerate our learning curve and better understand our role and how to play it effectively.

We cannot blame or challenges on anyone else. We are the elected officials who have the responsibility to our voters, all of whom will have a say in all of our returns to the board in just five months.

We must make sure that we are fulfilling our role well, and need to be sure we have an effective superintendent who can run the district with our guidance, our support and strong accountability to the board.

Without better understanding both our role and how to achieve it, we will continue to be sidetracked from our two primary goals: To set the district on a better financial path, a goal in which we've made real and substantive progress, and to successfully recruit, hire and retain a permanent superintendent with vision, passion and an understanding of the strengths and challenges we face as a school and a community.

To achieve this latter goal, we must get better at fulfilling our responsibilities. Our job is broad oversight for the district. Our job is not to run the school or supervise school employees. Our job is to give general direction, set policy parameters, assure adequate resources, monitor effectiveness and engage the community.

We hire one employee — the superintendent, who is accountable for running the education system within the parameters that we set. That person is accountable for us for results. We need to have a strong and healthy relationship with that person to ensure he or she understands our expectation, and to assure that we have strong two-way communications as we move through a school year.

This does not mean we have to agree on all things — only that when we do disagree, we disagree on the issues and question the ideas, not the person who brings them forward. We must create an environment which expects excellence and promotes respect for all, that can plan and carry out an exceptional education program with strong community support.

My proposal for moving forward is as follows. One, to authorize the chair and clerk, myself and Commissioner Curry, to meet with our three senior administrators to address the issues identified. We need to understand the issues and discuss our options for moving forward.

We may not be pleased with the manner in which the concerns were shared, but we cannot dismiss them. We need to understand them and make sure we do a better job addressing them.

Two, we need to empower an ad hoc committee of three. I'm proposing Commissioners Porter, Seguino and Dodson, all of who have experience in executive hiring, with immediately developing a plan for addressing the need for an interim superintendent and a commitment for the full board to act on names no later than the tenth of November.

Three, the board needs to commit to further sessions on improving how we function as a board. We will need to be willing to engage intentional sessions to arrive at an understanding of how we're going to work together.

We can disagree on policy decisions, but it’s not acceptable for us to be disagreeable or to be disrespectful of one another or of our administrators. We have to establish a culture of respect while effectively performing our role.

This is all the more essential as we continue to move forward on our quest for a new permanent superintendent.

Four, we will continue to proceed with our search for a permanent superintendent, redoubling our efforts to resolve our long-term leadership uncertainty. My suggestion going forward for this evening's proposal is as follows. I would entertain a motion for the proposal that I've just set forth, the four points.

I would suggest that each board member have an up to five-minute window to state their concerns or reactions to the situation and the proposal. Then I would invite the members of the public to speak. And while I know there's a great deal of concern, anxiety and even anger in the community, I believe that the public is most interested in hearing what we are committed to doing going forward.

And then finally, after that discussion, I suggest we vote on the motion that's being made. So, I would entertain a motion for the four points that I just outlined.

CurrySo moved.

HalladayCommissioner Curry, seconded, Commissioner Seguino.

Discussion. I will have up to five minutes, and I'm going to turn my computer, my iPad around here so that people can see the timer.

MatsonPatrick, can I quickly ask a point of —

HalladayPoint of order?

MatsonPoint of order.

HalladaySure.

MatsonYou've described us having discussion, then allowing the public to speak, and then vote.

HalladayThat's correct.

MatsonWill there be any discussion after the public?

HalladayWhat I have proposed is to go from the public discussion to the vote that we will have had a chance for comment on that point. If there would like to be an amendment to the proposal, that's something that would be possible.

MatsonI just wanted to know, okay.

HalladayBut that's what I've discussed. Commissioner Stoll.

StollSo this is the first time I'm hearing this motion, and it’s hard for me to respond quickly when this is the first time. I would appreciate it if there was something in writing that we could have in front of us, or if you could somehow, perhaps we could put the points somewhere. It’s just hard —

HalladayYou know what? I printed them out, but I got here and I meant to photocopy 'em when I got here, and I didn't photocopy them. But I am...

Oh, we'll get them photocopied and bring —

StollOkay, I would appreciate that.

HalladayYeah, I appreciate that too, and I apologize. I meant to do that as soon as I walked in the door.

StollAnd I also would like to just follow it up so that people in the room do understand that for many of us — I don't know if it’s everyone on the board — this is the first time I'm hearing this motion. So I'm thinking just as you are right now. So I'd appreciate people knowing that.

HalladayWithout further, is there a board member who would like to comment, speak? Commissioner Porter.

PorterCommissioner Halladay, would you just be kind enough to just, can we go through one at a time?

HalladayGo through... Do you want me to just reread the motion?

PorterNo, if you can just give the essence of the statement for each one of the four.

HalladayThe first one is that Commissioner Curry and I would meet with the three senior administrators for a discussion.

PorterYes, thank you.

HalladayThe second would be there's an ad hoc committee of three who would be charged with coming up with a name to bring forward to full board by the tenth of November.

The third is a commitment to ongoing sessions for better board functioning, and the fourth is just a statement that we're going to continue with our search for a permanent superintendent.

PorterThank you.

MatsonAlmost one more point of order, Patrick.

HalladayYes?

MatsonWe're all kinda sitting here thinking about this, right?

HalladayYeah.

MatsonYou'll give us a little bit of time here to think about this.

HalladayAbsolutely. So in fact, let's do that. While we're waiting for the photocopies to come back, take a few minutes to think and gather thoughts and [unintelligible].

[pause]

[gavel]

If there's any board member who would like to make a statement, I will... please ask to be addressed. Commissioner Matson?

MatsonObviously, a lot to take in. I came here tonight thinking one thing was at the forefront, which was to really... There's things that are going on, I think there's things here that don't necessarily need to be said, but I think that's fine.

But point two for me was the piece that I hadn't seen — we saw the discussion of recent events, but I think that that is the important piece of seeing what happens when these resignations are effective.

And my thought as I was sitting here for five minutes was to say, "Does this seem to be an efficient process?" and I think it has to be something that's an efficient process. And I probably, I don't know if I can come up with anything else, but this was what I felt like was missing what I saw on the agenda.

And because point two is there, we have a lot to do, and I think I would love to hear from the public. And so beyond that, without really trying to look too... I don't need to be wordsmithing or anything like this. I think I would like to go this direction.

HalladayCommissioner Dodson?

DodsonSo, like many others, I'm sure, I've been giving all this a lot of thought over the last few days. So I'm thinking, certainly with my board hat, but as a citizen and someone who, like folks in the room, really cares for Burlington, this is not meant to be a defense.

There's an email that went around that said, that quoted from I'm not sure where, but pointed out that everyone's up for reelection in March, and raised a question of, "Should it be a 'throw the bums out' scenario?"

I trust the public is going to do what it needs to do. So I'm not saying to defend, but I do think it’s important that we all step back and think about the complexity of our community. I just personally don't feel like there's enough time and conversation and reflection to think about that reality.

This is a unique place in Vermont, but it’s actually a unique place beyond Vermont, because you don't often get this kind of mix. The history of the United States has been once the mix happens, it moves pretty quickly to where it’s not so much of a mix, and middle-class and upper income, well-educated folks don't hang around.

That's the history. And the fact that we have all that mixture makes it a pretty — the heterogeneity of our community makes it a unique challenge. And so I just think it’s really important that we keep that in mind as we go forward.

It’s unprecedented in Vermont history. So there's nothing in Vermont that prepares us to deal with Burlington now moving forward. And that should be humbling and sobering, and just something we think about.

I also think that, you know, I own all of the things that are going on for this board, but I also, from just spending time — and I've got a lot of connections in different places in the town — there's little that I hear outside of this board that I don't hear on this board.

There are a lot of perspectives represented on the board, which is part of what makes it challenging, but I think also part of what makes it rich. From what I can see, there's no rubber stamp, there's no alliance that can't shift as people get new information, and I think ultimately that's pretty healthy.

And then lastly, in terms of the proposals, if it is the will of the board, I, like Alan, do think that something streamlined and efficient makes sense. I'm prepared to serve, but I'm also prepared to consider other people. But the idea that there's some smaller subgroup of us that moves forward efficiently certainly makes sense to me, and I have no qualms with any of the other points on this proposal.

HalladayThank you, Commissioner Dodson.

Commissioner Porter?

PorterCommissioner Halladay, I also wanted to say I fully support this. I think we have... In very few words, you actually cover broadly the concerns. And I think this is a great place to start in moving forward and doing what we do, which is right now hiring a superintendent and projecting a budget.

So that's what we're here for right now. So I'm in full support of every one of these points on here, as written.

HalladayCommissioner Stoll.

StollI also think, in total, this is a good way to go, and I thank you for putting all of these ideas together in the succinct way that you did. I do have a few specific issues. I would like to make a friendly amendment that we add one person to the committee of three. I'd like to add Commissioner Garrison. I think it would be excellent to have one more voice on the commission, and I think he would be a good voice because he's new to the party, so to speak.

So I would like, if you would accept that as a friendly, or whoever made it, if that would be a possible friendly amendment.

HalladayCommissioner Curry.

CurryI'm not inclined to accept that as a friendly amendment. I can speak to the motion when you're done.

StollOkay. So that was my first thing. The second thing was that I am concerned about two things here. The first is the second sentence in number one. "We need to understand the issues and discuss our options for moving forward." I think that's a vague statement. I would be more inclined to accept that first thing without that sentence. I don't think it adds anything. I think you're saying that you'll meet with the three senior administrators, and we'll figure out what the concerns were and move forward.

Or we will understand them. I think "moving forward" puts in there the notion that there could be some huge change or something different, and that is not comfortable for me. So I would be more comfortable if that sentence were struck.

And finally, my one concern, again, for those of you who have any understanding of the amount of time that we as a board, and in particular the finance committee has spent, it is very difficult to commit to more time.

It is important to understand how we function as a board. It is important to have sessions to understand that. But we are a board of 14 members. 14 members is de facto a large board that is difficult to function smoothly, no matter what. I don't know if I personally can commit to three or four full days of working as a board to make some change in how we function.

So honestly, while if that's the will of the board, I suppose we can go in that direction, I would hesitate that we don't put out something that we can't really do. So again, I guess I would be perhaps more inclined to take number three and take that off of the agenda, have us say one, two and four, and then to look at three separately and to talk more specifically about what that means in terms of a time commitment.

I mean I need to tell some of you, if you don't understand, that there are some weeks this summer that I've spent upward of 20 hours a week on this job, as many of my colleagues have. And to ask us to give more time than that is not really feasible or fair.

So, again, so I'm not sure the exact way to move forward here, but I would like, I guess, another friendly amendment, if you would be willing to take number three out, and for us to vote on number three separately, and to try and get a little bit more specificity about what we're talking about in terms of further sessions and what these would look like.

HalladayCommissioner Curry?

CurryI would not accept that. I think the intent of number three is different, it’s a different type of commitment than necessarily more time. I think that's a leap, in that we don't have a plan yet, we don't have a specific proposal yet. I think it’s just making a commitment to be willing to engage in these sessions.

And how we do that can be resolved.

StollOkay. So can you remind me, then, what my options are now, if she doesn’t —

HalladayYou could propose an amendment to the motion.

StollOkay, and then we vote on that amendment.

HalladayWe'd vote on that amendment.

StollOkay. So I would like to vote on, I would like to propose an amendment to take number three out and talk about it separately.

HalladayDo we have a second?

GarrisonI'll second.

HalladayCommissioner Garrison seconds. I'm going to — before we go any further, I was passed a note that we have folks who are out in the hallway who cannot get in the room, and some concerns about safety in the space. Unfortunately, we don't have additional spaces this evening, and I am sensitive to that.

I don't have a suggestion other than —

CinaCan they sit in the middle?

HalladayI don't know that that addresses the safety issues, though.

CinaWe can make a pathway out.

HalladayBut it’s bringing more people... I think the concern is the number of people in the room. So bringing more people into the room I don't think is the solution. I don't know what the maximum for the room is.

I'm sorry, I don't, I don't know what the maximum number of people permitted in the room is.

PublicAre you asking us to leave?

HalladayI'm not asking anyone to leave. I didn’t make any suggestion on anything. No, no, no. I'm just...

CinaCan we meet in the parking lot? I'm just saying, we can make a big giant circle —

HalladayCommissioner Cina, thank you. That's... I'm uncomfortable with the middle because... moving into the middle, because that doesn’t address the number of people in the room.

DodsonSo their suggestion... So it’s hard to address the number of people, but there's a suggestion that we take some tables out and condense the tables, so that this square doesn’t take as much, just to deal with the space. It won't deal with the number of people in the room. But we can —

PublicI think that the people out here are saying it’s okay. There's three of them.

CommissionerOh, there's only three? [laughter]

PublicJust talk louder, so they can... [murmur]

HalladayAll right. We will go ahead and move forward. There is a proposal...

There's an amendment on the table to strike number three from the motion. I'm going to go ahead and read number three, just so people know what they're discussing.

StollWell, to clarify, it’s not to strike it, but to deal with it separately.

HalladayYou're asking it to be removed from the proposal.

StollOkay.

HalladayAnd then we would have to... Someone would then have to make a new amendment, a new motion to bring that forward.

MatsonPoint of order?

HalladayCommissioner Matson.

MatsonCan we actually just — isn't this sort of asking to divide the question?

StollYes.

MatsonAnd it is a divisible... So it could be an amendment to divide the question, which would actually then make it a new motion, separate.

StollThat was my intention.

MatsonThat is a style of motion.

HalladayOkay.

PublicSo the motion could be so regarded, and you could debate it [and go ahead]. If the maker believes that the removal, the division destroys the motion as intended, then it needs to be debated separately. So, but it’s a legitimate motion.

HalladayOkay. So the motion would be to divide it into two separate motions. Number three, the new motion would be numbers one, two and four, the second motion being number three. Commissioner Curry, do you view that as something that would be dividing the initial purpose of the proposal, of the motion being made?

CurryI would prefer not to, because I think the way it’s worded, it has a specific meaning around making a commitment, showing a willingness, a general statement about how we conduct ourselves. And my concern is that if we divide the question, it becomes a separate motion, we get bogged down in kind of the details of the logistical questions around it.

And I think that at the next meeting, the chair could come back with kind of a logistical plan that we could then discuss. I just don't see the language as that substantial that we need to have that conversation tonight. I think the intent is really expressing everybody's agreement to do this.

It’s kind of like making a contract together that we're going to do our best.

HalladayAnyone else who would like to speak to it? Commissioner Porter?

PorterYes. Commissioner Halladay, while I certainly agree in the intent, we are coming right smack dab into the budget session, where these are going to be, for the next three months this is just going to be — that's got to be our concentration. I welcome this training, I welcome it all coming at us, but the priority unfortunately would be getting the budget work done, not accomplishing this.

And so if we're going to be held accountable for this, then if we all say, "Yes, we agree with this," then we're going to be held accountable and we can get called to question on it.

I don't know where the safe mode is on this, but the budget's going to come first, the superintendent search is going to come for, that's equal there. And this may not take as high a priority, you might not accomplish it. And then in that case, have we failed?

HalladayAnyone else who'd like to speak to the amendment?

CommissionerCould we call the question?

HalladayYou can call the question.

CommissionerI'd like to call the question, please.

HalladayAll right. Call the question takes a two-third vote to stop debate. All in favor of calling the question, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayOpposed? Unopposed. Call the question. So the amendment would be to separate number three into a separate motion, and the motion on the floor to discuss at this point would just be numbers one, two and four, as originally discussed.

All in favor of choosing to separate the motion, please say aye.

StollAye.

HalladayOpposed.

VariousNay.

HalladayLet's do a hand vote. All in favor, please raise your hand. [Stoll raises her hand]

CommissionerCould you clarify the —

HalladayAll in favor of splitting this into two separate motions, please say aye.

CommissionerAye.

HalladayOpposed?

CommissionerI was aye also.

CurrySo three opposed.

HalladayThree opposed, and one, two, three... I'm sorry, I spoke... Three in favor. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine opposed to the motion.

The amendment doesn’t carry. We'll continue with debate.

ShumskiDid you record the student vote?

HalladayI'm sorry. Nay. I'm sorry. Thank you very much. All right. Is there anyone else who would like to speak to the...?

StollI have one more comment, though.

HalladayYes?

StollSo the other thing was my — I would like to talk about amending number one, the wording of number one. It was not accepted as a friendly amendment. I really feel uncomfortable about, "...discuss our options for moving forward..." tucked into that number one. So again, I would like to offer a motion that we strike the second sentence from number one.

So it would read, "Authorize the chair and clerk to meet our three senior administrators to address the issues identified. We may not be pleased with the manner in which the concerns were shared, but we cannot dismiss them. We need to understand them and be sure we are addressing them."

HalladayDo we have a second for the amendment?

DodsonSecond.

HalladayCommissioner Dodson. Anyone like to speak to the proposed amendment?

TrumanMr. Chairman, can you restate the motion? It was difficult to hear.

HalladayI'm sorry. And for those... Commissioner Truman is in transit here from parents weekend at his son's college. So he will be here in a few minutes. Yes, Commissioner Truman, it’s to change the wording in point number one of the proposal from "...authorize the chair and clerk to meet with our three senior administrators to address the issues identified. We may not be pleased with the manner in which the concerns were shared, but we cannot dismiss them. We need to understand them and be sure we are addressing them."

Struck from that was in the original motion, a sentence that reads, "We need to understand the issues and to discuss our options for moving forward." Commissioner Shumski?

TrumanThank you.

ShumskiCall the question.

HalladayAll in favor of ending debate and call the question?

VariousAye.

HalladayAny opposition? All in favor of the amended language, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayRaise your hands, please. One, two, three, four, five, six. All opposed to the amended language, please say aye. One, two, three, four, five, six.

TrumanNo.

HalladaySeven, from Commissioner Truman. Opposed, student voice. The amendment does not carry, and anything further, Commissioner Stoll? All right. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to the original proposal, the original motion?

TrumanI have an amendment.

HalladayCommissioner Truman?

TrumanYes, I'd like to offer an amendment if I can.

HalladayYes.

TrumanFirst of all, thank you, everybody, and I apologize for being in transit. I'm in Northfield, we're coming back, and I'm in the passenger seat on my cell phone. [laughter]

MatsonThat was the question I had.

TrumanI don't know the current numerical structure of it, but if it’s appropriate to insert as a new number four, which would make the current number four, number five — and I can email this to you if it ends up carrying — a motion that, going forward, establishes a memorandum of understanding between the board and the administration that sets ground rules for how we interact with the administration, no later than the December board meeting.

So that's my [unintelligible].

HalladaySo I'm going to — people in the room couldn’t hear it, but Commissioner Truman, I'm going to speak back to you as to what the amendment is. The board establishes a memorandum of understanding for ground rules —

TrumanSets ground rules, yeah.

HalladayThat sets ground rules — continue.

TrumanFor how we interact with the administration.

HalladayOkay.

TrumanAnd such an MOU would be brought to the board for consideration no later than the December board meeting.

HalladayBrought to board... okay. So I'm going to repeat it for the group. This is a proposed new number four, taking number four, moving it down to number five. Reading, "The board establishes a memorandum of understanding that sets ground rules for how we will interact with the administration. This memorandum of understanding will be brought to the board at the December board meeting."

So we have a second for this amendment?

KlemanSecond.

HalladayCommissioner Kleman, second. Is there anyone who would like to speak to it?

TrumanSo it’s my opinion that we need to have something in writing on how we relate to the administration. There's a lot of moving parts of this. The current state of the district and the board, we have to deal with some underlying issues that got us to this place. It’s my opinion that this is one of them that we need to focus on, and that's why I'm offering the suggestion that we come up and establish in writing an understanding between the board and the administration, as the motion says, set up ground rules on how we interact, and the negotiation establishing that MOU is to work out what happened between now and the December board meeting.

HalladayCan I ask a question of clarification, Commissioner Truman? Would you imagine this understanding to be made, then, with the new interim superintendent, or is this something, a discussion that would only be at the board level? I'm just trying to make sure I understand the intent.

TrumanIt would be an understanding between the, I guess [unintelligible] would have to better phrase it, the governing bodies of the district. And it’s a memorandum of understanding between the district and the administration. So presumably, whoever is the administrative lead at that time, presumably the interim superintendent, would be the person who would be signing the documents for the administration.

HalladayOkay, thank you.

TrumanSo it’s not a purely internal board document.

HalladayThank you. Anyone else who'd like to speak to the motion? Commissioner Porter?

PorterYes, thank you. I really think that this should be more of a collaborative thing with whoever's in the leadership at the time. So if we have an interim, when we have an interim, that would be dealt with them on how they best feel that we should be communicating with them, and the currency, who does it, in what form?

This is a communication plan that's agreed to by parties. And when we get to the full-time superintendent, it may be completely different, may not be acceptable to them. So I think it’s more important that we say... I think it’s more important that we recognize that it has to be collaborative with whoever's in the leadership.

It has to be collaborative even as of November 9th, when there is no longer an interim superintendent. So we have three different worlds we're about to enter into, and I think we have to work with each one of them individually in order to get this finalized.

HalladayThank you, Commissioner Porter. Anyone else? Commissioner Dodson?

DodsonSo, independent of the timing issue and how it goes about that Mark spoke about, I would love clarification — I don't know if Joe can provide us — on three questions. One, are you aware of any precedent for this kind of MOU between boards and super? The second would be would such a thing be binding?

And third, back to Patrick's point, I think we need to start conducting our business as if we're beyond the uncommon circumstance we've been in. So you stated in the beginning that we hire one person and we supervise and evaluate one person. So under those circumstances, is the appropriate role of the board to deal through that person? So we wouldn't talk about the administration, we would talk about the leader as the person that any of us would be communicating with, as it relates.

JoeAs to the first point, I am aware, both by, of regulations and also of protocol agreements that relate to the manner of interaction of boards and administrators, not just in schools, but in other respects. So it would not be unprecedented to have such a protocol. Number two, the rule typically is that one board cannot bind another.

But if an action goes into effect, it remains in effect until it is amended or repealed by a subsequent board. But this board could not say that forever and a day, this would be the relationship. It just doesn’t last that long.

DodsonAnd would it be binding on each of us, Joe? So if one of us stepped outside of the protocol —

JoeYes. If the board passed a motion, authorized an execution of such agreement, it was negotiated and executed, it would be binding on the board, as a board, and all amendments, for that length of time.

HalladayCommissioner Giannoni?

GiannoniSo in other words, is it — following up on Kyle — is it any more enforceable than a procedure that we have right now?

JoeIt would, if you passed it, if you negotiated, if you authorized it, you negotiated it and you executed it, so that it was, in fact it amounted to a contract, it would be binding on this board, without doubt. It would be binding on a subsequent board, unless and until it elected not to be bound by it.

GiannoniSo it’s on the whole board, it’s not on individual board members, is what I'm saying.

JoeBut once an action is taken by the board, it represents the will of the board and the collective. So if you passed a motion, for example, to enter into a contract to buy ten widgets, that has been an action of the district governing body, which binds all of you, one commissioner could not say, "I disagree, I'm not following the will of the body." That would be impermissible once that process had been completed, if I'm being clear enough.

HalladayCommissioner Seguino?

SeguinoI support the sentiment of Commissioner Truman's motion, but I don't think this is the right time to discuss it. I think that we have to be very clear about what we need to get done tonight and the steps that we need to take moving forward. I'd like to move that we table this motion and that we take it up at our regular board meeting in October. It still would allow us to address the issue of our relationship with the superintendent at that time.

So I think without a huge loss, we could do that.

HalladayAnd just for clarification, you said October, I'm assuming you meant the November board meeting.

SeguinoYes.

HalladayOkay. Do we have a second for a motion to table? Commissioner Matson. This is not something debatable. All in favor of tabling the amendment, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayOpposed? Great. Thank you, the motion has been tabled. Anything further that you would like to add, Commissioner Truman?

TrumanNo. Thank you. I appreciate the consideration, I think it’s an important issue for us to pursue, so we'll talk about it — I'll catch up with everybody because I wasn't able to hear some of those comments, and I do want to hear the input the other members have. So thank you very much.

HalladayThank you. Anyone else who'd like to speak to the motion on the table? Commissioner Curry?

CurryI'd just like to support the motion, because I think that there is, especially in terms of number one, I think there's reparative work that we need to do with the administration. And I think it’s important for us to understand more about how they got to where they are. And also to give them an opportunity to give us some conversation about transitions.

And so I think that's an important step. I think the committee that, I would support the committee that is being recommended to recommend another acting superintendent. All three people have experience, and a diversity of viewpoints. And then as we've discussed before with Commissioner Stoll, I think that the commitment is important that we all make to take on some training, and I think Commissioner Truman's motion had the same intention — that there's a lot of training and skill-building that we need to do as a board, being a very new board.

And I think it’s important to take the time to do that. A lot of the budget work will happen at the finance committee meeting, and I think the board will have some time if we could lay out a very tight plan. [her computer speakers, laughter] Now that we have no viruses here. Continue to health.

So I just wanted to speak to why I made the motion.

HalladayI'm going to allow anyone else to speak a first time. We actually had set the ground rules for five minutes for each person to have to talk.

StollI'll only speak if no one else wants to.

HalladayHearing no other comment from anyone regarding the events of the weekend and the proposal... Do you have something very quick to say, Commissioner Stoll?

StollYeah, I'd just like to say that I will be voting against this motion. However, it’s not because I don't very much agree with parts of it. So the parts of it that I very much agree with are number two and number four. And so please know that — and the other, number one and number three, I don't fully disagree with, but I don't feel comfortable voting for them, but please know that I do feel very comfortable with some of this. To explain it.

HalladayGive one more chance for board members to speak, either to the motion or to the events of the last several days?

All right. Hearing none, then we will turn this over to public comment. I believe the public comment sheet... I believe the public comment sheet has been passed around.

We'll pass it up here. We can always add as we go on. Can you just pass it up here, Don? We can add on as we go.

Okay. I just want to make, for clarification, if you give me... if you would allow just a second...

[murmur]

HalladaySo I just am going to read from our, I'm going to read from our policy, and I read this not to be, to dismiss public comment, but just to make sure that it’s clear that what we're trying to do is follow policy, and also we'll give some guidance as to other things that could be done to alter the form of the meeting.

At each regular board meeting a period of 20 minutes will be set aside as a public forum to permit members of the public to address the board concerning any subject relating to public education in general, and the operations of the Burlington School District in particular.

Individual presentations will be limited to three minutes. So we have, according to policy, 20 minutes for public comment. If it is the will of the board, at the end of that 20 minutes, to vote to extend the public comment session, we would be allowed to take a vote. It would be a two-thirds?

JoeNo, that's just a simple —

HalladayOkay, simple majority to extend the public comment session. But I do want to make sure that I'm going to stick by that 20 minutes, simply because I want to follow policy, and if the board decides to extend that, because we obviously have a lot of people here tonight, we will take up that question at 20 minutes.

Commissioner Kirk, did you have something?

KirkJust because of the number of people and time, I would think that pre-doing this might be a better idea, if we could take a poll of the board and see if we should limit it to two minutes per person, and extend it another 20 minutes to 40 minutes total.

HalladayBefore we have —

KirkJust a thought.

HalladayOkay, before we do that, I just want to make sure, if we change from three to two, does that...?

JoeIf you change your protocol from three to two, that's amending your rules. That would require two-thirds.

HalladayOkay, I just, I only say that for clarification —

KirkNo, that's fine. I want to be clear and open. I want to get more people —

HalladayAll right. So the proposal that we have on the table from Commissioner Kirk is to extend from 20 to 40 minutes, and limit comments to two minutes. Do we have a second for that change of the rules? Commissioner Porter, thank you. Anyone that would like to speak to this? Commissioner Shumski?

ShumskiI'd like to make a friendly amendment to extend it to 60 minutes. I haven't seen the sign-up, but I assume there's... I mean, two times 30 —

HalladayAt this point we don't have that many people, but that doesn’t mean that there wouldn't... We would also have the ability to extend it at 40 minutes, if we would like to do that.

ShumskiDo you have a rough estimate, Patrick, on the —

HalladayRight now, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... Right now it’s about 15 people who are on there, but there is still stuff circulating around.

ShumskiThen I guess the friendly amendment would be —

HalladayFriendly amendment was being made —

Shumski— to 60 minutes.

HalladayDo you accept that as friendly?

KirkI would accept that.

HalladayOkay. Do we have...? And who seconded the...?

CommissionerI agree.

HalladayOkay. Anyone else who'd like to speak to it? Commissioner Cina?

CinaI'd like to give everyone a chance to speak, if possible. So I'm just wondering if we can assess how many people want to speak before we start deciding how long and how many minutes they have.

HalladayWe could amend at 60 minutes, that would be the other option.

[murmur]

CurryCall the question.

HalladayCommissioner Curry just called the question. All in favor of the proposal to extend... to close debate, I'm sorry. Thank you. To close debate, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayAny opposition? None. The motion to extend public comment to 60 minutes, limiting comment to two minutes per person, all in favor please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayAny opposed? [Matson raises his hand] One opposed. So that would be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 in favor. Commissioner Truman, how did you vote?

Didn’t hear him. I think we may have lost him. He may have been lost.

One opposed. All right. The motion passes. I'm seeing 7:25 on the clock right now. I'm again going to set this timer up here for two minutes. Hold on... And I'll move it to 7:26, just because I'm sure I'm taking an extra minute. First up we have Dawn Moskowitz. Second, Robert Gristo Johnson.

Third, I believe it says Jared Hood, but I'm not positive that's an H.

WoodCould you take my name off? George Wood. Take it off?

HalladayOh, it’s Wood, I'm sorry. All right. Kathy Chasen would be third speaking.

Don?

MoskowitzMy name is Dawn Moskowitz. I am a parent of a ninth grader in the district, and have been involved in working with the schools for a number of years. I appreciate the commitment of this board and the proposed motion put forth tonight.

I come to you with a petition signed by 150 people as of 5pm, seeking the board's commitment to work closely with Secretary of Education Holcombe. I have for you a print copy of the signatures, as well as the comments submitted.

These individuals want to ensure that Burlington can find and hire a highly qualified interim and permanent superintendent. We need the knowledge, experience and leadership of the Vermont Secretary of Education.

We seek a strong public commitment from the board to work very closely with the Secretary of Education to attract, retain and vet highly qualified interim and permanent superintendent candidates. Burlington students, families, teachers and residents need information about how the Secretary of Education can be involved, as well as clear and consistent communication and a timeline outlining how the board is partnering with the agency.

This must go beyond assurances that the board is talking with the Secretary of Education. We need to know if and how the secretary and the state can help us with our immediate priorities of appointing an interim superintendent and developing the school project.

While I respect the motion to appoint the three board members mentioned, I still believe that we need to partner actively with the secretary to get the best candidate we can for interim superintendent.

Our community is hungry for this leadership. In 32 hours, 150 people supported this request, and many thoughtful comments were posted. Public comments, timelines and communication are needed. The motion put forth tonight is definitely a step in the right direction.

The board's process and decisions must align with best practices for superintendent searches. I would like to see the board vote publicly on a motion to work closely with the Secretary of Education and to outline and share her recommendations. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayNext up, Robert Gristo Johnson, followed by Kathy Chasen, then Sharon Weltman would be [unintelligible].

JohnsonSo I'm Robert Bristol Johnson, I live up in the New North End. I'm a blue dot in the red end of town. I'm quite aware of politically what has been going on from town meeting day since, when we have a failed budget, and then the replaced budget had even a higher dollar amount.

Usually when a budget fails, it’s because it’s, the voters tend to think that it’s too high for them to want to pay. So I understand the tough nut that you guys have to crack regarding that.

But again, we have to not be pennywise and pound foolish about this. We all have kids. I have two kids in the system. Turns out one kid is taking school choice as a big picture in South Burlington. So my family gets to deal with both the teacher's strike and whatever this mess is.

So that's just kind of a weird coincidence. Anyway, you have a right as board members to ask hard questions. You have a right, in my opinion, to ask for line item budgets. You have a right to scrutinize spending.

But you have to accept, you have to deal with the tough answers that come back. You might see stuff that you don't like, and we have to live with it, because there are federal mandates, there are state mandates. They're just the fact of how a large organization is run.

And so in that regard, just like if this was a corporate board and we're talking about a CEO, which it’s kinda odd that you only get to hire the CEO, and you don't get to hire the CFO or other persons like that — you might want to consider that — you might want to consider hiring an auditor.

You have to accept the bad news. But demand the information, but be able to deal with the consequences. And telling voters that, "What we're going to do is take this cruft we found in the budget, and we're going to refund it to you as a lower tax base," that might not be the same as accepting the bad news for what it is.

Because we still have a school district to run.

HalladayTime is running low.

JohnsonOkay, I'm gonna say one thing. We have to accept humility and that we don't know... We're not all school administrators here, we're not all educators here, and you have to understand what it is that you don't know, in order to be able to do your job the best. [applause]

HalladayNext up we have Kathy Chasen, followed by Sharon Weltman, then Terry Buhner.

ChasenI would like to thank — and they're not here tonight — Stephanie, Paul and Nicky, for writing the letter to Patrick that spelled out so clearly what members of the public have been saying and thinking, but we haven't had the authority to really do anything.

I'm disappointed before tonight's meeting — but this discussion was interesting — in the response from the board, the chair and the clerk and the mayor, who I read online. None of you three mentioned the actual problems that caused Stephanie and Paul and Nicky to write the letter.

The responses avoided mentioning board behavior at all. Your responses were off-topic, and that didn’t really move the situation forward like you were discussing tonight.

So I just wanted to say thank you, Stephanie, Nicky and Paul. [applause]

HalladaySharon Weltman, followed by Terry Buhner, followed by...

WeltmanHello. I'm a here's teacher at Burlington High School. I'm very disappointed in the board. In the last year this board has taken from me many things both as an educator and a resident. You've robbed me of working with a great vice principal. Nick Molander was a dedicated, sincere, hardworking and caring vice principal at BHS.

He did all of this under an interim basis. When time came to put the best person in the job, the board voted unanimously to sever his service. He's what that did to me: Lowered my morale, made it impossible for my principal to both finish last year and start this year with a strong administrative team. Why? Why, school board, did you do this?

Jeannie Collins was forced out of her contract to the tune of a quarter million dollars. Why, school board, did you burden the taxpayers with this? Why, school board, were some of you creating such an unpleasant work environment that three caring, dedicated professionals would choose to quit their interim positions rather than continuing to work with you?

Some of you are on the board solely because you feel the taxes are too high. You cannot have one focus, not on a board when so many souls are at stake. You must open your eyes and see what your one focus is doing. It is crumbling the very human infrastructure around the professionals who work at BSD.

Why, school board? You say the last board rubber stamped everything. What are your credentials that make you feel that you know more about education than the people who have years of experience, Bachelor's Degrees, Master's Degrees and Ph.D.s in education do?

I am disheartened and disappointed. Before we lose another expert educator, I call on you, school board, to look at the situation you have created, and ask why, school board, why? [applause]

HalladayTerry Buhner, Anne Toukesberry-Frye, followed by Jim Holloway.

BuhnerSharon, that was excellent. Kathy, that was excellent. Okay, and I have to join with saying that I can only say that when I read the letter from Stephanie, Nicky and Paul, that I felt that it was a tremendous, courageous step. One that I haven't seen in quite a while.

I actually emailed them and said that, and also stated that I hope that it would make a difference. Your words tonight give me a little bit of hope that, maybe, but the rest of the words tonight do not. I sat before the school board over a month ago, and talked about a conversation and how a conversation is conducted, and that you shouldn’t get involved in a conversation so that the person you're talking with, you shut 'em down.

'Cause then you don't have a conversation anymore. Now, I don't know exactly what kind of behavior caused these three professionals to resign. But they're very smart people. And I think I know and believe that they know what they're talking about.

It is time that respect returns. You take a pledge of ethics before you even sit around this table. Think about that. And as we move forward, let's truly make a commitment to move forward. Think about that ethics pledge, respect, and the whole idea of a conversation.

Takes two people. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayAnne Toukesberry-Frye, Jim Holloway, followed by Martha Lange.

Toukesberry-FryeHi, I'm Anne Toukesberry-Frye. I'm recently retired Sustainability Academy coach, and I've taught in Burlington for 26 years. The first minute I want to speak about my incredible dismay at the board's action that would cause three brilliant educators to step down from their position that they had stepped up to help the city of Burlington for, and to step back to their positions, due to a lot of controversies that none of us in the city are really well aware of.

I think that that was a big mistake. I have great respect for those educators, as well as for Nick Molander, as well as for Jeannie Collins, because I've taught for your district for so many years. The second piece that I wanted to address is, from this document here, the commitment to further sessions on improving how we function as a board.

I really have a lot of respect for what Miriam said about the countless hours that the board has put in, particularly the financial folks. But when teachers get together for meetings and work what their colleagues or negotiate, they spend hours and hours and days and weeks and months of their career learning how to do that.

We learn how to talk, how to be respectful, how to listen — a huge, huge skill — how to listen, because having a conversation is more than just speaking your mind. And I would urge the board to do exactly that — to take the training that they need, and I know there's no time, I know there's a budget. I know that there's no interim and no real and no everything. I know what a crisis it is, because I live it every day in watching what everybody is doing.

But if you don't know how to do what you're doing, you first have to learn how to do it before you can do anything. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayJim Holloway, Martha Lange, Jason [Lequier]. Thank you, Jason.

PublicI'm actually just going to move my name to the end, just as there's so many other comments, I don't want to repeat...

LangeAll right. My name is Martha Lange, and I just want to say that I've been following the school board for almost a year and a half, and I have never seen a school board work harder, give more of themselves to their appointments than I have this school board. A year and a half ago, I saw school boards that were just quiet.

I will guarantee these people are knocking themselves out. Maybe there are a few bumps in the road — nothing comes easily — but you can't give up. When you make mistakes, then you know you're working hard. You just don't want to make the same ones again. I have watched the school board give endlessly, and I say, "Who doesn’t make mistakes?"

And I'm not saying you made any, but let's move ahead. And I appreciate all your hard work and your dedicated hours. Thank you very very much. [applause]

HalladayJason, then Jennifer Wilsner? And followed by Bob [Audi].

LequierHello, my name's Jason Lequier. I'll tell ya, I had something really eloquent to say, but my battery died on my computer. [laughter] So I will say that I have kids that are 10 and 13, and my overwhelming message is knock it off. Three people resigned. I mean, if one person resigned, it can be a personality problem.

But three people, come on. There's an underlying issue here. It’s not us against them. So I also want to say that for the first time in my life, I voted no for a school budget my last time. So that tells you my history.

I did that because things were out of control with spending, we didn’t understand where our money was going, and I voted to get new people in to get it fixed. With that said, I think nine new people are in there — six, and then three resigned, so we have nine new ones.

And then we have the bigger deficit, and then we found a buncha money by an accounting thing. [laughter] And then all of a sudden I see in the paper that three people resigned, and now middle-class people have a tax increase by having to bus their kids to school and spend money for it. That's unacceptable.

By the way, I'm not affected by that, so I'm not saying it from a bias. I just think it’s ridiculous. And then just, you know, you didn’t know anything about this. It’s just a lot of dysfunction. Knock it off, it needs to be fixed. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayJennifer, Bob Abbey, then Dan Fry.

WillinghamDid you say Willingham?

HalladayWilling — yeah, is it Willing...? I'm sorry.

WillinghamSo good evening. I am here — sorry, I don't have a prepared speech in front of me — but just to talk about the transportation issue as well.

I feel that transportation is a vital part, is a vital expense to a school district. We have the obligation to provide transportation free of charge, I believe, to all of our students, regardless of their distance that they live, and regardless of their income aspects of it. I mean not everybody — I read in the article — not everybody does qualify for free and reduced hot lunch, so they would not be able to receive a free pass.

Some people maybe don't apply, or some people are just above the income thresholds. But I would urge everybody, as you as the board members, to provide that transportation. I don't know what our attendance rate was when the bus strike happened — I don't know if that has affected it tremendously, but I think it’s important. We want our kids to be able to get to school.

And if... A lot of people, that's their only way. They don't have their parents to walk 'em to school for elementary school. They just have a way to get to school. And I would just encourage that, to reinstate that, so we have kids, that we provide them an opportunity to get to school.

Maybe November 18th, the Tuesday after, might be a snowstorm. The sidewalks aren't plowed. How are these kids safely going to get to school? That's all I have to say. [applause]

HalladayBob Abbey, Dan Fry, [Pam Guardy].

AbbeyGood evening. My name is Bob Abbey. I am the president of the BEA and I represent about 400 teachers and about 180 para-educators. For many months, Burlington educators have been deeply trouble by the practices of the current school board.

What we have witnessed is that this board is plagued by the following: Unprofessional behavior during public and private meetings, questionable decisions around personnel decisions, a continued lack of transparency, and a simple lack of understanding for the work that we do.

Most alarming is the school board's relentless campaign to silence the experts. Administrators, principals, teachers and staff feel defeated by the culture of fear and intimidation that this school board has created.

Therefore, Burlington educators stand with our district administrators, who have courageously spoken out against this school board. Burlington educators believe that your failure to listen and to trust in our expertise is the center of this problem.

We also believe, we know that listening and trust are the solution. I'm here to assure you, Burlington children and families, that your teachers are hard at work tonight preparing to give our students another week of high-quality education and learning.

I now ask the board to join the principals, the teachers, the para-educators and the administrators, to become part of the solution.

And to the whole Burlington community, please become engaged. Ask questions, and set high expectations for our school board. Our students, our kids, your kids are too important to continue on this current path. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayDan Fry, Rich, and then Deirdre Dunham.

DunhamPatrick, I can remove my name, because I'm just supporting Dawn Moskowitz and [unintelligible] the AOE.

HalladayThank you, Deirdre.

FryHello, my name's Dan Fry. I live in ward four. I've been a resident of the New North End for almost 30 years, been married to a teacher for 30 years, and I've had my children matriculate through the school system quite successfully.

I have a grandchild in the school system today. This is a catastrophic failure of the school board to comprehend their duty to the children in the school district of Burlington. Therefore, I'm calling for the immediate removal and resignation of David Kirk, Patrick Halladay and Scott Shumski. [light applause]

HalladayRich, then, I'm sorry, Beck Holt and Rita [Markwell]. Mark Lee, I'm sorry.

NadwornyHello, I'm Rich Nadworny. I live in the New North End. I have a student at BHS and one at Hunt, and I'm watching again as the school board and the schools go through yet another crisis. Patrick, I really appreciate your amendment, or number three, of putting time in around the board and its relationship, and even board governance, and I think that's something that the board should pay attention to, because this isn't the first time we've ended up in crisis.

We've been having this actually for a number of years. And it points to not just the personalities on the board. It points to how the board functions as a group. So I would recommend that you either accept this amendment or revise it to ask for outside help on board governance, school board governance, perhaps from the Agency of Education or others.

Winooski has just gone through this, and as a Winooski teacher said to me this weekend, "I can't believe it feels like Winooski is so far ahead of Burlington at this point." [laughter] And that made me pay attention. So I think you need outside help in learning how to be a board.

I agree with you, Miriam. We're not asking you to do 20 or 40 hours more a week. I mean, I can't believe the amount of time you put in anyway. So I think it would behoove the board to find that help of how to function as a school board in the most effective manner. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayBecky Holt, Rita [Marklee] and [unintelligible].

HoltHi, my name is Becky Holt and my daughter is a Hunt Middle School eighth grader. I am speaking today because I just want to express my disappointment with the Front Porch Forum post that was posted just before this meeting by Scott Shumski and David Kirk and Kevin Garrison.

I thought that it was inappropriate and premature before this meeting. I felt like it slammed the administration. I was disappointed with the negative tone of saying they weren't up to the task. I think that was very snide and snarky, and that's not appropriate. And if that reflects the kind of communication that's been going on, then perhaps that gives you insight into some of the issues.

I've read the Free Press stories and I followed the news, and I would like to say I saw the release of the [led] of the emails, the emails from the administration had been released, but the responses back from the school board had not.

So in the issue of transparency and freedom of information, I would like to understand who's to blame. Not to say that the blame is the most important part. But I would like to understand what happened. And I think as a taxpayer, I want to understand why we have this problem, and what we can do to resolve it.

I would like to thank the board members for the hard work on the finance, and to try to resolve that. I know many of you are dedicated — this is a volunteer position, and I want to thank you for that hard work. And I appreciate what you have done, and I have a lot of respect for many of you, and know you in other aspects in the city.

So thank you for your time. [applause]

Halladay[unintelligible] followed by [unintelligible].

RitaI think I like [Marco] better. [laughter] Okay. So my name is Rita. I have three kids in the Burlington schools. And I want to thank all of you for your service, because I know how hard it is to do a job like this that is thankless at such a difficult time. So I want to start with that.

But I want to say that I have not been that involved, tracking the school board. I know that I need to get more engaged. So I have no idea what the underlying dynamics are right now. But it is clear to me that things are devolving, and it’s gotten ugly.

And whatever your position, in my mind there is no occasion that justifies or merits being ugly. And I think three people resigning speaks a lot. I agree. One person, you know, it could be a personality.

So one, I understand that there is a board training, there's a training for school board members, and I'm just curious if any of you have taken it. It’s put on by the Association of School Boards or whatever. And it would be helpful to know if anybody of the new members have taken it.

CommissionerSome of us have done it twice.

HoltOkay. Has everybody? Okay. Well, then I don't know what they're training. But, so here's my point, then. [laughter, applause] Okay.

So I assume they would be going over, you know, board role, staff role, communication. But I'm looking down the road, and I think if we want to attract to this community really talented potential candidates for a superintendent, reading what has happened is going to repel people.

And they have no reason to believe or trust it will be different, I don't think, if whoever is responsible for the rude comments or whatever it said in the paper — I don't know that there were disrespectful comments publicly or badgering people, in a way —

HalladayRita, I need to ask you to wrap up —

Rita— that they felt diminished. Okay. So one, I think that there should be a public apology from the people responsible, so there's a message that says, "We own it, we're sorry, this is what we're going to do to get it right." And I think you can have, without an MOU, your own ground rules for conduct, and hold yourselves accountable.

Don't make it an MOU with the interim transition. Make it with each other. [applause]

HalladayClara [Wolfney].

ClaraHi. I am a parent of three children in the district. I want to thank you as citizens of Burlington for serving on the school board. I appreciate all the time that was dedicated to listen to all the finance and budget meetings that you all spend a tremendous amount of time and long hours.

So my ultimate goal here is, though, to ask for the board and the ad hoc committee for the interim, and I know Brian's committee for the search of the superintendent, is to seek the advice of professionals, especially the Department of Education, Secretary Holcombe.

After speaking also with the Superintendents' Association, Jeff Francis. We have a wealth of people in this state, we pride ourselves on education. I appreciate that you are all citizens dedicated to working on this board.

But there are resources that we need to look to to guide us in this very important interim role and superintendent search. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayThose are all the people who have signed up for public comment. We still do have time available if there's anyone else who would like to make a public comment.

While we're waiting for Jim to come up, on just a side note, one of our student members, I'd like to congratulate the girls' BHS cross country team, who qualified for the New England championships yesterday. [cheers, applause]

JoeTo be brief, I echo many of the well stated comments here. There's a lot of frustration in the community. There's a lot of — where there's smoke, there's fire.

I was hoping that tonight we would talk about what we're hearing from outside the board, from the media and other conversations. I don't know who's doing what. But I read that and say if someone said that about the feeling that was going on with my child, investigation, very fast. I want to know answers.

I don't see that. I heard something different. And I can appreciate it — and I want to say there's one thing to work many long hours, and I know everyone, as you stood up knowing you'd be putting in long hours.

So that in and of itself is appreciated. But you can work 20 hours digging a ditch or you can work 20 hours moving the train forward. And you certainly aren't going to have a whole lot of moving forward if some are digging a ditch and some are moving forward.

How you guys work, the behavior is what I want answers on. You know, I want to have a positive, constructive dialogue, and I think that to a certain extent there are three strikes. We hear — and I don't want to put blame — we hear about financial problems, we see burned bridges before solutions.

And third, things like the school bus thing, suddenly, at a time where, you know, such short notice, people are forced to make some tough decisions.

So I just want to point out, there are, as I heard, nine of 14 new board members, some of which, this is, how much experience do you have?

To finish off, if you guys aren't going to publicly talk about the way the board functions, behaves, right now that's telling me that... I'm wondering if there's no change, where's the trust in what you will come up with, whether it’s budget or anything else?

So it’s not meant to be a lecture. I think that, echoing so many of the good, solid comments, I hope you guys are listening and taking that advice. [applause]

AlisonHi, my name's Alison [Sega], I live in ward five, and I don't want to talk about what’s going on, this crisis. I just want to talk about the bus issue. I feel really really really concerned about the bus issue, really concerned for working families who don't have free/reduced school lunches.

My taxes went up $600 this year. Another $150 is a lot of money to find to pay for my kid to go to school every day. I'll find it, but there's a lot of families that aren't going to find it, and I feel really concerned that, amidst this big crisis that's going on, that this other thing is just gonna slip through and it’s gonna happen.

It’s going to affect a lot of families. And I really really hope that you guys reconsider. I've been told that it was either buses or music. I know that there's got to be another way. There has to be another way.

And I really would urge you to consider relooking to see where you can find the money so that all our children can get to school, and that it’s not going to cost them any money. Thank you. [applause]

HalladayCan you state your name, please?

LenLen Whitehouse. I live in the New North End. I'd just like to say thank you, I'd like to finish on a positive note. Thank you very much for the hard work you have done, and the holes that you have filled in. I appreciate it.

I've been to a lot of school board meetings. I've seen what you've done, and I appreciate it greatly. So thank you very much. [applause]

HalladayAny further public comment?

All right. Hearing none, close that. Okay. So on the ground rules we set at the outset, we were going to go straight to a vote on the proposal that was made by Commissioner Curry, seconded by Commissioner Seguino.

And somehow or another, my copy has disappeared. But is there anyone that need — everyone should have a copy in front of them. Does it need to be reread? So at this point, all in favor of the proposal as written, please, let's do a hand vote. You have a question.

CommissionerYeah. We didn’t change any words —

HalladayThere have been no changes at all. Yup.

I'm going to do a hand vote. So all in favor of the proposal, please raise their hand. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12. 12 in favor. All opposed?

One opposed. And in favor as well. So we have a 12 to one vote, student vote in favor as well. All right. Next on our agenda for this evening... Well, we don't need to consider an executive session. That was put on there in case we needed to, which we don't.

Would be the amendment to the agenda for Commissioner Cina to give an update on the superintendent search and the implications for the superintendent search.

CinaWow. I didn’t expect that to happen so quickly.

So after the events of Friday, I got in touch with our consultant from CSSR, which is the Center for Secondary School Reform [sic], which is the group helping with the position analysis process. And I also got in touch with Gary [Ray], our consultant from Rand Associates, who's helping us with the job posting, and application screening, and interviewing process.

And shared with them what was going on, and got their feedback about how this impacts the search. Bill Brian from CSSR has suggested that he postpone CSSR's involvement in the community input process this week, because he feels that his process isn't going to work under these conditions.

However, he supports us doing something to reach out to the community and continue to gather community input. And he's willing to, maybe in a few weeks, consider doing those community input sessions.

I spoke with Gary Ray. He said that he's seen situations like this happen in other districts during the search process, but that the most important thing is that we keep moving forward, and that he thinks we need to stay on track with gathering community input and getting job posting up on our timeline.

So that being said, I come to you tonight with sort of a proposal about how we should proceed, considering that CSSR is not willing to do the community input sessions this week, but we have three community input sessions scheduled. So what I'd like to propose is that the ad hoc committee meet on Wednesday night, and that we invite members of the SSAC, which is the Superintendent Search Advisory Committee, to join the meeting, and that together we plan community input sessions for this week.

The focus being on the search and on what people are looking for in a superintendent. It’ll be a chance to introduce the community to come of the work we've been doing on position analysis, and maybe see if there's questions people have that we could then follow up with our consultant.

And then when he comes in a few weeks, he's better prepared to work with the community on that piece.

And that's really what I'd like to propose for today, is that we need to keep moving on the search. We can't let this setback interfere with what’s a really important job for our community right now.

So I'm hoping that the ad hoc committee would be willing to convene Wednesday night, and I'm hoping that some members of the SSAC would be willing to volunteer a little extra time and join us, so that we can do some kind of community input process on Thursday.

And then I think the ad hoc committee needs to look at, in the next few weeks, how do we support the SSAC in the work they have to do to design elements of the interview process, and just keep plugging ahead.

I also think we need to continue some of the good things we've been doing. And I can talk more about that on Wednesday night, when we all meet. I don't think I need to review all that tonight. But that's really what I wanted to present to the board, and also just letting the community know that it’s important that we stay on track with this.

But it’s also important that we respect the feedback of our consultants, you know? So...

HalladayAny questions for Commissioner Cina?

Commissioner Truman?

TrumanI guess if you can clarify for me more, because it may be the nature of the phrasing, but the consultant position is what? We want to postpone doing the outreach right now, or, "I don't want to do it, and maybe I'll do it later?" Or are we just talking about, given the immediacy of what’s going on, we're postponing things for, essentially, a time certain down the road a couple of weeks?

I just want to make sure that I'm clear on what —

CinaYeah. Well, what he specifically said is that the way he's going to approach it will not work under the current conditions, and that he would want to wait a few weeks and let us do our own work on this before we bring him in.

When I spoke with our other consultant, Gary Ray, he said that he's willing to come out here and help us if we need him, and he thinks at some point soon he should come out and visit with us. But he did not suggest that he should be running these.

I think his suggestion was we as a community need to figure this out. And so that's why I'm proposing that the ad hoc committee and the SSAC, which is our community advisors and staff advisors, work together to do some kind of community input and engage the community this week.

And in the meantime, when we meet Wednesday, the ad hoc committee and the SSAC together, or the members of the SSAC who join that night, can talk about, in the next few weeks what do we need to do extra? What have we been doing that's right?

What have we been doing that we might want to adjust right now to make sure we stay on track and make this a meaningful process with integrity that involves the community?

HalladayCommissioner Kirk, then Commissioner Kleman. Is this a question for Commissioner Cina?

KirkI'd like to echo what you said, Brian, about the urgency, continuing to move forward. My question is, is the CSSR, they're actually helping us build the job description for the superintendent —

CinaYeah.

KirkIs he, is Bill Brian, is he stopping that process?

CinaNo.

KirkIs he gonna try...? I mean, you understand my question.

CinaLet me explain, actually, let me give you some detail about that.

KirkThank you.

CinaYou know, I'm doing my best to kind of cover everything. There are a lot of details. So CSSR has worked with us now — we did a community workshop September 27th, I believe the date was — 26th, 27th? Yeah.

And we said we had a first draft, and then over the last few weeks our advisory committee has vetted, had questions for that draft, and has come, made a bunch of edits, it went back to CSSR, and tomorrow morning me and Hal Colston from the Partnership For Change have a meeting on phone with the consultant to review and make sure that their changes reflect our understanding of the edits, at which time that document's going to be posted publicly as part of our minutes.

So we have a 90% finished product at this point. So what Bill Brian's saying is he doesn’t think his process is going to work under these conditions this week to get it to 100%. But that he thinks we could take that document and we can look at it as a community without using his process, and that that document can actually be used by the search firm.

The search firm's doing their own survey right now. If anyone wants to take the survey, there's a link posted on our website for it. And that the survey is giving the community a chance to weigh in on the criteria you're looking for in a superintendent.

So the idea is that we would give this 90% finished job description to the search firm, they would use that with their own data from their survey to create a job posting so that we can get a job posting up, even though CSSR's project is 90% done.

So while the job is posted, then CSSR would come in and help us just do final edits and get community feedback on the final product. Does that make sense?

KirkNo, it does, thank you.

CinaSo it’s not an ideal process. I was really looking forward to us doing it this week, and it’s frustrating to have to modify our plan. But we're working with — people say trust the experts. This expert's saying, "Right now you need to do your own work before I can come in." So we need to step up and do our own work.

KirkAbsolutely.

HalladayAnd if I might just add one thing to that, Brian — that Rand Associates and Brill Brian, all along it felt that, with the 90% that [unintelligible] completed position analysis, that would be sufficient in order to create the job description. So that actually would not be —

KirkRight.

Halladay— different. So the position description versus job description, there's a little bit of a, there's a nuance difference that I think is important.

Kirk'Cause we want to get this job posted as soon as we possibly can.

CinaAnd I think it was — we, in the spirit of trying to be as involved a community as possible, we were trying to get in before we did the posting. You know?

KirkUnderstood, thank you.

HalladayCommissioner Kleman?

KlemanSo this might’ve just been answered, but are we still scheduled for these community meetings? I think one was Thursday?

CinaThey're scheduled, but the problem is that the consultant who was going to facilitate them has said no. So what I'm proposing is that —

Kleman— is that we do it ourselves.

Cina[unintelligible] and we do something with the community on Thursday —

KlemanSo we'll have to come up with something that we can do as a group, and a way to gather input, I don't know, on Thursday —

CinaWell, the initial round. This is one layer. Mind you that there's also a survey open to gather feedback, and later CSSR can come in. I honestly am in favor as much community involvement as possible. So if we do extra, then let's... why not?

KlemanCool, thank you.

HalladayCommissioner Kirk, then Commissioner Matson.

KirkNot me.

HalladayOh, I'm sorry. Porter. [laughter] It’s the hair. Commissioner Porter?

PorterYou know, I don't even think this has to... I can appreciate Brian's tenaciousness. There's no doubt about it. But I think this is really just a discussion for the ad hoc committee. I don't think there's any...

It’s more informative to the school board, if I'm correct, and I've always appreciated him running with this kind of stuff, and not letting anything — that bulldog attitude really has put us in a good place on the superintendent search, to move forward.

So, I just want to say, I appreciate the informative side, but I don't think we have to take any kind of direction from the school board. Am I correct? It’s all the ad hoc —

CinaYeah, I wasn't asking the school board as a whole. I was informing you. And more importantly, to be honest with you all, for the community, I think that you all — I can email you and say something, but I want people to understand that this is an urgent process, it’s important to get through it.

And just that we're going to go forward with these sessions to engage the community in this process. And so that's really why I wanted to bring it up tonight. And also, just to get the commitment of the ad hoc committee that you can at least meet on Wednesday, or at least a quorum can meet.

I see one thumbs up.

If everyone can't, that's fine. But if we have the majority. And then hopefully some SSAC members will. I don't know yet. But I'm looking at [unintelligible] and smiling. Hopefully, some of you... okay.

So maybe we can talk about the schedule. But hopefully we can get... That really was informative, yes. You don't need to make a decision. Well, you could tell me no, you could say, I guess people could say, "Cancel the community input." But I don't know if that's what you want to do.

HalladayCommissioner Matson?

MatsonYeah, Brian, just possible suggestion: CSSR's already done a certain amount of work with us.

CinaYeah.

MatsonYou could reach out and ask what approach you would take for a meeting like this first meeting for facilitation. And we could design something similar.

CinaI'm talking to him tomorrow morning. So I'm going to let him know that that's what we're doing, and then hopefully he can give me some advice at that time.

MatsonRight.

HalladayAny further questions for Commissioner Cina?

CinaYeah, well, I just want to say one more thing. I know there's no questions. But just to what, Alan, what you were just saying — that we do plan on talking with Gary Ray and with Bill tomorrow, so that by Wednesday I've talked to both. And I'm even thinking — I know Patrick's been talking to the Secretary of Education.

Well, you know, maybe Patrick, you and I should talk about, do we need to consult with the secretary further before that, or not, in terms of the community's concerns, you know? So...

HalladaySo I just want to recap some discussions here tonight before we move for adjournment. And to understand that everyone on the board has made some commitments here this evening.

Commissioner Curry and I have made commitments to go back to the three senior administrators and hear their concerns that felt that they needed to precipitate the action they took on Friday. We're committed to doing that.

Second, Commissioners Porter, Seguino and Dodson have a huge responsibility. They need to be beating the bushes, listening to the wider community, listening to folks throughout the state and the region for names of a potential interim superintendent.

And I'd like to add on to that too that the board needs to understand that what we look for in an interim superintendent and our expectations for an interim superintendent are not the same in our permanent superintendent search.

And to keep that in mind as we continue to move forward. Those three will be in conversation with us regularly, with the whole board, but that'll also be shared, their progress, with the wider community, although I ask the wider community to understand when names can't necessarily be thrown around that are being discussed, just to protect the individuals who might’ve done that.

And that as a board we've made a commitment that no later than the 10th of November, that we will be reconvening in order to go forward with a new interim superintendent for the district. We've also made a commitment to have additional sessions in how we function as a board.

We have taken some of these additional steps. We met with the Vermont School Board Association back in the beginning of September, all of us, although, were you with us at that point, Commissioner Garrison? You may have... Okay.

And additional — the design of those would be forthcoming, but that we have made a commitment to further conversations, and to better understand our role and what our rights and responsibilities as a board are, and what our commitments to the larger community are.

And finally, I want to just say again the fourth thing, [summed] by Commissioner Cina, is that we do need — this makes the permanent superintendent search all the more urgent. And that our healthy functioning on a board is in direct relation to the quality of the candidates that we're going to be able to attract.

And a quality superintendent is going to be asking questions of how his or her board is working together. And if he or she sees a board that's working at cross purposes, a smart superintendent is probably not going to be looking for Burlington.

So I ask you all to keep that in mind as we continue to move forward.

With that, we've reached the end of our agenda. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Cina, seconded by [laughter] Commissioner Kirk. All in favor of adjournment, please say aye.

VariousAye.

HalladayAny opposition? We're adjourned.