[B]URLINGTON — The Burlington School Board is moving forward with addressing charges leveled by city School Commissioner Mark Porter accusing a fellow member of racial bias.
Following a lengthy executive session at a meeting on Tuesday evening, the board voted to launch an investigation into whether Superintendent Yaw Obeng’s civil rights had been violated.
Porter, who recently resigned as chair of the board, recused himself from the vote because he said he couldn’t be “unbiased.” All of the other commissioners supported the probe.
Porter accused Jeff Wick, another board member, of racial bias against Obeng last month. Wick has denied the allegation and at the board meeting Tuesday seconded the motion to approve the investigation into the alleged civil rights violations.
The board said it took Porter’s allegation seriously and decided to investigate.
The former board chair pointed to questions Wick had raised about the need to hire more teachers and administrators of color, a vote against renewing Obeng’s contract, and his lack of support for the superintendent’s 19 annual goals, which included closing the achievement gap between low-income and better off children in the district.
Wick has said he supports the district’s efforts to hire more teachers and administrators of color and he says Porter’s remarks were a “calculated attempt to undermine me.”
District spokesman Russ Elek referred all questions about the investigation to acting board Chairman Stephanie Seguino.
Seguino wrote in an email Thursday that the investigation will be overseen by the board and carried out by an experienced external investigator.
“I am working with legal counsel, Joe McNeil, to have this investigation start immediately and to be completed in a timely and prompt fashion,” Seguino said. “As yet, I do not have an indication of how long the investigation will take.”
Five out 11 board members are leaving next month. Porter, who is among those not seeking re-election, says board turnover following Town Meeting Day in March won’t affect the inquiry.
“It’s more important to be thorough than to be quick,” he said. “It won’t matter if someone is questioned and that person is no longer on the board.”
Brooks McArthur, Wick’s attorney, didn’t respond for requests for comment about the matter. VTDigger lodged a public records request with the Burlington School District for information on Porter’s assertion and any censure he may have received as a result of his remarks.
The board’s legal counsel, Colin McNeil of McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan, P.C., denied the request. McNeil said the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege and exempt from disclosure under the Vermont Public Records Act.
