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Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement about School District Leadership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2014
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                 802.735.7962  

Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement about School District Leadership

As Mayor, I am committed, above all, to the children in our community, as well as to our parents and our teachers.

I am frustrated and disappointed that the School Board and interim schools administration have not been able to come together and move forward during this challenging time.

This is unacceptable.  Burlingtonians will not tolerate this failure of leadership, which puts our children’s education at risk.

Within my authority as Mayor, I can offer no easy answers – the School Board is independently elected and selects our superintendent. 

Upon hearing today’s news, I immediately spoke with School Board Chair Patrick Halladay and State Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe to ensure that all appropriate actions are being taken to protect the children and parents who will be impacted by today’s announcement and resulting events.

Last spring, I offered to help the schools manage their leadership transition.  That offer was politely declined, but I will repeat it today.  We are part of a shared community, and the City is here to provide any reasonable assistance it can to the Board in accomplishing the immediate tasks before it:  recruiting and appointing an interim superintendent and selecting the next superintendent.

It is important that we act decisively, but not precipitously, in a way that moves our community forward.

Finally, I am very grateful to the teachers, principals, and staff in all our schools who have continued their excellent work with students this school year, despite the uncertainty at the top of the district.  The importance of that work cannot be understated – we are fortunate to have such committed and talented educators in our City.
 

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Press Release Date: 
10/24/2014
City Department: 
Mayor's Office