On Wednesday, South Burlington teachers and community members showed up to a special school board meeting to find out what could happen to the leader of their district.
A recent investigation cleared Superintendent Violet Nichols after allegations of racism were made against her. It led to a
survey going out to staff
. The result of that survey showed that more than 300 members of the Educators’ Union question her leadership. Many of them now want her to step down.
“If you’re the leader of a large district like South Burlington and you’re not able to face the faculty that came out to hear you, then that doesn’t bode well for your ability to lead this district into the future,” said co-president of the union Noah Everitt.
At Wednesday’s school board meeting, the board
reviewed a policy
that outlines how a superintendent should be treating its district staff.
Nichols requested that review be done behind closed doors, sending those who showed up to listen into an outrage.
“Its hard when there’s a meeting for the superintendent to talk about her and her treatment of staff that’s been pushed back since April, to then show up to hear the report and be heard by her to then it be done behind closed doors” said Everitt.
After the executive session, the board addressed a mostly empty room and took it to a vote. The result: Violet Nichols was found to be non-compliant with the treatment of staff policy.
The Union released a statement saying in part:
“Although it is disappointing that we were not able to hear the discussion which took place regarding the policy for treatment of staff, we view the vote to find Superintendent Nichols to be not in compliance as a positive step. We will remain engaged in advocating for the needs of our students and our staff.”
The board now has a decision to make. They could do a wide range of things, from virtually nothing, to terminating Nichols, who took over as
superintendent in 2022
. Nichols has previously told NBC5 that she has no plans of stepping down.
NBC5 reached out to the superintendent for a comment Wednesday following the vote but have not heard back.
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South Burlington superintendent found non-compliant with treatment of staff policy
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