By Ashley Woods
On September 16, Superintendent Brigid Scheffert Nease sent a letter to Vermont Agency of Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe accusing the Warren School Board of neglecting their legal obligations to keep Warren Elementary School safe and in proper repair. In her letter Scheffert Nease claims that the Warren School Board has been ignoring her for six years and not keeping up with the maintenance, safety or major repairs that she directed them to do. She asks her boss for guidance on what she can do legally. Wasn't she present at the board table with three of the board members 50 times since 2009 when they supposedly began ignoring her directives? Isn't it a little late to try and take cover now?
She also claims that former principal Dr. Lehner had a MobileMe App that allowed him full remote access to all PowerSchool information as well as documents stored on the school's hard drive, in the time since he retired, June of 2012 to the present. An easy Google search told me that Apple discontinued MobileMe in lieu of iCloud in June of 2012. If it was easy for me to find, why didn't Washington West Supervisory Union (WWSU) IT guys hired by Scheffert Nease notice? Why didn't Scheffert Nease check herself before sending this inflammatory letter? Why did she not inform either the WWSU board or the Warren School Board of her plans to write this letter and fan the flames in Warren again? These are very serious accusations to make on such flimsy and unsupportable evidence. Dr. Lehner has been enjoying an exciting and active retirement since 2012, completely removed from Warren Elementary School. The WWSU board unanimously renewed her contract for five years despite a community appeal and petition to have a climate survey done of district employees, because of all the negative undercurrent about how Scheffert Nease really treats school employees and teachers. What was there to be gained by making these allegations?
This vendetta needs to end. It is clear that Scheffert Nease has crossed a line; she cannot let go of her personal feelings toward Warren. At the November 3 Warren School Board meeting, which I attended, Scheffert Nease said, "I have plenty of direct evidence of access on PowerSchool by nonemployees." What is that evidence? Again, an accusation that is wide open. Who exactly is she referring to? Why are her insidious remarks allowed to go unchecked?
Now more than ever, we need intervention. How can we accept this person as our leader heading into the complicated waters of Act 46? Why should we trust her when her vindictive methods and pure unprofessionalism are so clear?
Secretary Holcombe and the AOE should take a close look at the damage this superintendent has inflicted on Warren Elementary School since 2012.
Ashley Woods lives in Warren.
