The Harwood Unified Union School District Board lost a very capable member when Jacqueline Kelleher resigned earlier this month.
She resigned because the board was unable to provide her with a laptop or device on which to conduct board business and she was unwilling to use her state of Vermont laptop for anything other than work and using her iPhone or via printed documents was neither timely or tenable.
It was suggested that Kelleher use the $750 stipend which board members receive to purchase a device. That stipend is a small fee, which is supposed to help offset expenses that board members incur for serving – not for purchasing devices.
In her back and forth with board leadership on the issue, Kelleher raised incredibly valid points about the district requiring board members to use their own devices in order to participate.
Board members are asked to work on and maintain sensitive district information on their own devices, which could be subject to freedom of information requests as well as discovery requests in litigation, Kelleher argued, and raised the issue of uniform cybersecurity with everyone using their own device.
One of the most important issues she raised, however, is whether the board’s current policy is limiting the number of community members who can serve on the board. That is fairly critical for a six-town school district that regularly faces resignations and vacancies. Adding that extra hurdle for people to be able to serve is not equitable.
Board chair Kristen Rodgers acknowledged that in 2022 having a computer is necessary to fulfill the work of the board. To its credit, board leadership recognized that it may be necessary for the board to take a look at this issue and potentially change its practices.
Some school districts, like the state of Vermont and many, many private employers, provide board members and employees with devices for uniform security reasons and also for file and email management.
Our school district buys laptops and iPads by the hundreds if not thousands for students, educators and staff. Fourteen more for school board members is not an unreasonable expense, particularly if it lets more community members participate in the public process with volunteer service on the board.
