By Warren School Board
Dear Secretary Holcombe:
On September 16, the superintendent of Washington West Supervisory Union, Brigid Scheffert Nease, wrote a letter to inform you of concerns she had regarding safety and privacy at the Warren School. The letter inaccurately leaves the impression Warren School Board members and the administration have little regard for student safety and privacy. The truth is different.
Last summer Brigid ordered several safety audits from the Vermont School Board Insurance Trust (VSBIT). The audits turned up a laundry list of concerns with the building and the playground, some of which are typical in older school buildings and others which could have been prevented with regular maintenance. Our board took the audit results seriously. We immediately developed a plan to address what we could with local volunteers and we initiated a discussion about contracting for the remainder. The September 15 school board minutes reflect the lengthy discussion we had on this topic. The October 15 minutes reflect an RFP going out to tackle the larger projects and provide information for an anticipated bond offering. The minutes do not reflect a community volunteer work day on October 4 when board members joined volunteers from Warren Church to jump start the remediation process.
Brigid’s letter focuses particular attention on the playground. The Warren School playground is unique: It encourages play with whimsical features and odd-looking structures while highlighting sustainable building practices that are an apt reflection of our town. Community members, many of whom had helped design and build the structures, were understandably upset when they were told of the changes that would have to be made, but they have come around to understand. Unfortunately, Brigid’s letter entirely misses the community’s sense of ownership, the education process that transpired and the fact that the school board, despite community misgivings, had already accepted the findings and begun the remediation process.
The second concern our superintendent expressed in her letter to you was a potential violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We are aware our former principal, Andreas Lehner, has visited the school from time to time since his retirement three years ago. We are also aware he was allowed access to the administrative assistant’s computer and database. What he did on that computer is a matter of conjecture, although apparently no one from the central office thought to ask him prior to sending you a letter. He has told others he was helping our former administrative assistant update a directory.
We take seriously any potential breach of privacy and we are thankful Brigid brought the matter to our attention. We note the administrative assistant who allowed access to a school computer is no longer employed by the Warren School and we have implemented measures to ensure we are in compliance with all state and federal regulations. We don’t know whether state or federal law requires a full investigation of potential FERPA violations; however, we do know no one on our board and few if any people in town have any interest in pursuing this further.
You are aware of our recent history. After Andreas Lehner’s retirement we cycled through two principals in three years and we elected not to renew the contract of a long-serving and beloved administrative assistant. We weathered months of recriminations, anger and emotion. Our new principal, Beth Peterson, has done a terrific job putting the past behind us and focusing on education. Just as the clouds have begun to part, along comes a blast of cold rain and the threat of more stormy weather on the horizon.
Andreas Lehner was principal of the Warren School for over two decades. He was a gifted educator. The success of our school during his tenure was in no small measure due to his leadership. He was an outspoken critic of centralizing education, a view that often created tension with his colleagues across the supervisory union and with the superintendent. It’s fair to say his retirement eased tensions at the supervisory union, but we have difficulty reading the superintendent’s letter to you without sensing some of that tension bubbling back to the surface. Did he exercise poor judgment? Probably. Sinister intent? Definitely not. Worthy of pursuit? Only if the law requires it. You probably have many more pressing matters.
More importantly, the timing of the superintendent’s letter could not have been worse. Act 46 was always going to be a heavy lift in our community. It will put us at a tax disadvantage while it brings back simmering tensions over state heavy-handedness in a town that has yet to make peace with the effects of Act 60. Our board was prepared to make the case for the opportunities offered by larger districts and, frankly, the limited alternatives available to us. And then, out of the blue, comes a prime example of the heavy-handed and misguided behavior many fear from the central office. It ignores progress we have made and seems more intent on settling old scores than helping us negotiate a difficult path to the future. We expect better from our colleagues at the supervisory union.
We fully intend to respond to the safety audits by VSBIT – the effort is well under way – and we have already taken steps to ensure compliance with FERPA. You can expect a more formal response to your letter in the coming weeks.
The Warren School Board sent this letter to Vermont Agency of Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe. The board consists of Alycia Biondo, Adam Greshin, Michael Ketchel, chair; Rob Rosen and Matthew Staples.
