By Andreas Lehner
On September 16, 2015, the current Washington West Supervisory Union (WWSU) superintendent, Brigid Scheffert Nease, sent a letter to the Agency of Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe informing her of documented concerns about the condition of the Warren Elementary School facility and of a suspicion that there may have been a breach of file security, a “FERPA” – Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act – violation. She referred to me only as the “retired school principal” – perhaps she couldn’t remember my name.
I would like to offer the good citizens of Warren some additional information that may provide some useful perspective and a more complete understanding of that letter.
1. When I retired on June 30, 2012, after 24 years, Warren Elementary School enjoyed a well-deserved reputation locally and in the state. We had a lively, engaged and collaborative faculty and as a result our NECAP scores consistently put us among the top 10 schools in Vermont despite our relatively high percentage of free and reduced-price eligible students. Our robust enrollments meant that our per pupil costs – and our school tax rate – were lowest in Washington West, below average for the state. We had an exemplary two-year preschool program, complete with in-house day care and an unusual but cost-effective special education program. Year after year, town meetings passed our budgets and special articles; as I was leaving, the finishing touches were being put on a new classroom addition. Parents were supportive. Children were happy. Our playground was widely appreciated, with an excellent safety record.
Despite all of this, I have never heard the current superintendent acknowledge, publicly or privately, any of our school’s success.
When it was time to find my replacement, Scheffert Nease recommended the hiring of a candidate with no administrative experience. That person left after two years and again the superintendent recommended the hiring of another candidate with no administrative experience. It’s rumored that the board bought out her contract and had to find a third candidate over the summer of 2015.
After more than three years, it’s getting a little late to blame neglected maintenance or playground safety issues on my administration, as her letter implies. We should note, however, that I did file corrective action plans for the 2009 inspections; many of the items were completed promptly or within a year or two, including the costly replacement of an unsafe structure on the preschool playground. In 2010-2012, we also completed a major, multiyear corrective plan to address deficiencies in the building sprinkler system and an expensive upgrade of our fire alarm system. Safety was always a concern.
2. Last spring, many in the Warren community believe that the current superintendent engineered the firing of Laurie Jones, the long-term, highly esteemed administrative assistant at Warren Elementary School. The community was outraged; there were several very heated public meetings critical of the board and the superintendent and there were petitions. On September 9, 2015, a number of community members presented a petition at a meeting of the Washington West Supervisory Union Board calling for a districtwide school climate survey to give staff members an opportunity to speak out, anonymously, about the climate of fear and intimidation that former colleagues report is now pervasive in WWSU schools. People who attended the meeting reported that the current superintendent was present and seemed upset.
A few days later, on September 16, 2015, she sent that letter to Rebecca Holcombe, presenting Warren Elementary School in the worst possible light and defaming the unnamed former principal. The timing of the letter is interesting. Some may wonder if this was perhaps retaliation for the trouble Warren had given her?
3. With regard to the FERPA issue, her suggestion that I was somehow able to “access all school email and student information in PowerSchool” is fanciful and untrue.
She referenced a MobileMe App found on an administrative computer, apparently not realizing that MobileMe was an Apple service that was discontinued on June 30, 2012, coincidentally the date of my retirement.
For the record, I do not have, and never have had, any kind of remote access to any computer at the school, or anywhere else. I do not, and have not had since June 30, 2012, access to PowerSchool.
She also reported that I had been observed at Laurie’s computer on two occasions (in three years), implying that something sinister was going on. In fact, on both of those occasions Laurie had asked me to come in to update the FileMaker Purchase Order database I had created – quick fixes that only took a few minutes. Scheffert Nease knew this, because she asked Laurie about it at the time. Of course, if I really had remote access, I would not have had to be there to peek or snoop or whatever she wants you to think I was doing.
4. I find it remarkable that on two occasions this year – last March’s PTO account kerfuffle and the current FERPA question – when Scheffert Nease must have known that I had useful information to share, she did not contact me. Others in her position might have been curious, might have shown some courtesy, might have picked up the phone and said, “Andreas, what’s going on here? What’s the story? Tell me more.” She did not do this. It seemed to me that she was more interested in seizing the adversarial “gotcha” opportunity than in solving a problem. Is this a pattern of behavior throughout her administration or was she just singling out Warren for special treatment?
5. With respect to both of the foregoing – PTO and FERPA – the Agency of Education is taking no action on either matter.
I hope the foregoing is helpful.
Andreas Lehner, Ed.D., lives in Waitsfield and is the former principal of Warren Elementary School.
