The Burlington Board of School Commissioners is expected to vote tonight on whether to extend the contract of embattled Superintendent Jeanne Collins. After listening to dozens of pro and con comments about Collins and her handling of racism, equity, race and inclusion during a public forum on Tuesday night, the board decided 10-4 to act on her contract, which currently continues for one year, but postponed the vote for 24 hours.
The board will meet tonight at Burlington High School to deliberate, possibly go into an executive session, and vote, convening at 7 p.m.
Collins has been under fire since disagreement emerged over the conclusions of a strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion released last October. A math teacher took issue with some of the plan’s statistics and conclusions, and students in English Language Learner (ELL) classes protested about how they were described, broadening the discussion to harassment and the general school climate.
Some local leaders have taken sides over Collins, who recently admitted to being slow and bureaucratic in addressing inequity and institutional racism. A group of local religious leaders led by Rabbi Joshua Chasan held a press conference in support. At the School Board meeting several teachers and co-workers described her accomplishments.
Other community leaders have charged that racism, intimidation and a climate of denial remain major problems in Burlington schools, and that Collins acted only after her contract was challenged. They question her ability to meet the challenge of increased diversity at a point when Burlington needs “transformational leadership.”
On Tuesday evening School Board Chair Keith Pillsbury encouraged as many people as possible to address the school board, which met at the Hunt school in Burlington’s North End. According to board member Haik Bedrosian, no vote was actually required. “The contract would have renewed automatically without a vote,” he wrote on his blog, “so that was in essence a 10-4 vote against Jeanne Collins.”
Bedrosian, who supports the superintendent and was against taking up her contract, added that the decision on her extension could be different, “but damn – Jeanne can’t feel good about this.”
