[B]URLINGTON — The Burlington School Board’s outspoken chair Mark Porter has relinquished his leadership position, but said he would remain as a board member until his term expires this spring.
Porter’s decision, which he announced at Tuesday’s school board meeting at Hunt Middle School, was effective immediately. The board’s vice chair, Stephanie Seguino, took over from Porter for the duration of the meeting.
“I can’t claim I’m impartial,” said Porter, who represents voters in Burlington’s Ward 1. “It’s not that big of a deal, but I didn’t check with the other members of the board, and the fact is, as chair, you do represent 11 other people.”
Porter had told fellow commissioners of his intention to step down in a Feb. 3 email.
Burlington School District spokesman Russ Elek called Porter’s resignation “a board matter” and said Superintendent Yaw Obeng had no comment.
Controversy has swirled around Porter since a special board meeting on Jan. 23, at which the board chair accused fellow school commissioner Jeff Wick of racial bias, and then abruptly announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
It was toward the end of the Jan. 23 meeting that Porter read from a prepared statement, outlining concerns he had about the district. His accusation of bias against Wick was based both on Wick’s voting record, including his vote not to renew Obeng’s contract, and on a private conversation the two men had had.
Wick immediately denied Porter’s bias charge, calling it “score-settling” and a “personal attack.”
After the meeting, the board released a statement through Seguino, saying the board was not in a position to assess or comment on a private conversation between Wick and Porter.
Porter also had noted in his statement that a number of candidates for election to the school board — at the March town meeting — are educators or former educators, and members of Vermont’s teachers union, creating a conflict of interest.
The board held an executive session at the end of Tuesday’s school commissioners’ meeting. District spokesman Elek did not respond to a request for comment on the reason for the executive session, which is not open to the public.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board asked for legal advice from its attorney, without specifying publicly what advice was being sought. VTDigger has filed an open records request for more information on the legal opinion.
Neither the Vermont Agency of Education nor the Vermont School Boards Association were approached by commissioners for advice or consult, representatives said.
