By LAYLA KALINEN
Eagle Times Staff
CHESTER, VT — The Green Mountain Unified School District board has unanimously created a restructuring committee to focus on how the district serves the educational needs of its students, and manages its financial, infrastructure and maintenance needs.
The separate entity will meet apart from the regular school board meetings to find ways to streamline the school’s assets, staff and budget needs.
Superintendent Lauren Fierman and Chery Hammond, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union business manager, reported they have found software that breaks down the budget for taxpayers more clearly and catalogues each department, students served and the money required to educate that student population.
Chieftains debate
During their last public meeting, the board took just seven minutes before unanimously voting to adjourn and update the agenda to properly notify the public of a potential vote on the Chieftains moniker. The Thursday, Oct. 19, meeting was an effort to make good on the short meeting.
Vice Chair Adrienne Williams stated that an agenda that doesn’t provide advanced notice creates liability issues. Board Chair Deb Brown took a back seat and only contributed her affirmation that Williams was correct.
Brown, who attended via Zoom because of health issues, spoke of being referred to as the dictator of the school board, and assured fellow board members that was never her intention.
Williams, Brown’s proxy authority since September, has stepped in as a peacekeeper and Randy Miles acknowledged he wanted Brown to get well.
Brown said she wants the board to understand she does not want the directors to feel limited, despite having faced limited options over the past year as it dealt with legal tangles.
After a lengthy discussion, updates and citizen comments, a vote was pushed, but ultimately not held, to finally decide on the Chieftains name. However, Superintendent Fierman questioned whether this was a good idea since under the statute, the formal complaint has locked the school board, protesters and school community in a 45-day delay that is still ongoing. The district is also waiting to hear whether retaining the Chieftain identity would violate Act 152. Fierman cautioned a vote before the delay ends would be a violation.
A petition featuring 1,500 signatures asserts that the school’s Chieftain name without the logo does not infer any racial or cultural discrimination and contends the name Chieftain is found among multiple cultures.
The opposite side argues that maintaining the Chieftain’s moniker would continue to sully the school with an echo of white privilege and continue to enable the perception of indigenous culture being distorted by a culture that historically had not respected Native American culture.
Additionally, the board has been criticized for using $10,000 for legal fees rather than spending it on tangible needs.
Additional updates were presented to the board and Fierman reported that PCB contamination at Green Mountain Union High School is being addressed. And, new Green Mountain Union High School Principal John Broadley reported on the semester’s success so far. Broadley and new vice principal Kate Leathe are impressed by the school’s students, staff and faculty, he said.
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