Sustainability Academy Principal Search

Best of luck with this effort. Principals set the entire tone for both the school and its entire community.

Community involvement and buy in with decisions as important as this are essential to creating the district that we talk about creating.

Let's truly look for the best candidate for the job

I learned from a Vermont Life article that the SA at Lawrence Barnes is the first public school in the nation, at any level, dedicated to teaching our children the values and culture of sustainability. You have a serious responsibility to, and therefore you must, follow a search process for principal that embodies these principles. One other point: most "congregational" churches (this means: those where the local congregation does the search/hire process) these days, even the tiny, low budget Universalist Church of Barre VT, engage in a 1-2 year period of interim leadership while the search for the right fit for a permanent leader takes place. the SA deserves such a process.

Please listen to the parents! These are very valid concerns. I love this school. I know 3 students and their families, and stand with them on this issue.

The Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes has drawn positive local, state and national attention for being a leader in sustainability education. Let's keep this going by having a proper and thorough hiring process in efforts of finding the best fit candidate. It is more important than ever to build positive morale in our school district.

We have different parameters than most schools in the area and need to find the right person to help hold and live our vision.

Dear Board, I am not sure what has happened in the hiring process but I have heard from several parents that they feel left out. Please review the hiring process and consider if enough opportunity was given to these parents who care deeply about their school.

Foolish, short sighted, and quite patronizing of families and their children attending school.

As a parent of an S.A. student, I am concerned that the current process pays lip service to community engagement but has disregarded the input from parents, community members and staff. I am even more concerned that this disregard undermines the district's stated goals and could erode the credibility of any incoming principal. My concern with the process is not a reflection on the candidate - I haven't even had a chance to meet her... which speaks volumes of the process in and of itself. I couldn't attend the one evening where parents were invited (though apparently not allowed to ask questions), and I had to read the proposal of our new principal by digging through a spreadsheet in an online consent agenda for the school board meeting.

know thy board members.

I a concerned grandmother of two. It's now attending the school.

"Charade of democracy is worse than no democracy at all..."

To the Board: Please do not let the district leadership bulldoze this principal appointment through. The community demands a process that brings the best possible leader for our Education for Sustainability mission, through the most inclusive and democratic process. These magnet schools are the district's opportunity to lead and innovate in education. The Principal Search process and decision should reflect the importance of this.

This school deserves a fair process so everyone can get behind their leader and work with integrity.

I think more time is needed to assure we are getting a principal worthy of this school.

I am a parent of a soon to be 1st grader at SA.

Although I understand the constraints associated with such a search, I believe that hiring an interim principal and engaging in a full-blown search in the next year will be more beneficial to the school and the local community in the long term.