BY GEORGE FJELD
Brandon – The annual Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) organizational meeting was not without controversy. The recent Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) suspension of Mid-Vermont Christian Academy over the forfeiture of a basketball game in which a transgender girl was to participate for Champlain Valley Union (CVU) was discussed. Issues of free speech and OVUU potentially withdrawing from the VPA were debated.
Kristen Hubert called the organizational meeting of the OVUU School District to order at 6:00 pm on March 15th. Kevin Thornton asked to add an item to the agenda which was delayed until the appropriate time. Phil Gore PhD. from the Vermont School Boards association then gave a 45-minute presentation over Zoom regarding foundations of good governance.
Reorganization then commenced with Laurie Bertrand reelected chair, Derek Larson, vice chair, and Barbara Ebling, secretary.
The board then appointed Bertrand, Ebling and Rebecca Watters to the RNESU board, and Thorton to be OVUU’s representative to the Stafford Technical Center board. The consent agenda was approved, except for signing off of orders and meeting date and time. Bertrand reviewed the procedure for signing off of orders and it was approved. The meeting date and time were changed to the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 6 pm at the request of the superintendent who was not available on Wednesdays going forward.
Introductions were then entertained, with each member giving some personal reasons for being on the board as well as their favorite movie and Zodiac sign. It served as a good general introduction around the board room.
Annual reading of the policies regarding school board membership was undertaken. These responsibilities include not acting for the board as an individual and restraining from investigating and/or acting on perceived difficulties with employees.
The board appointed Jeremy Gildrien as the Leicester representative to fill an empty slot.
The first reading of a policy change regarding elementary-school intradistrict transfer was completed. The fundamental changes include a rolling opportunity to request a change from the present policy of once a year. This means that a parent can request a change anytime during the year instead of only on March 1st. There will be a new application process requiring a legitimate reason for the requested change. Hubert reviewed the process and questions were answered. Hubert said that class sizes are getting lopsided and parents may request a change without ever visiting their home school. Greg Bernhardt spoke in opposition to the change as it goes against policies set up when OVUU was formed. Specifically, parents could request change without any reason. He felt it was going against promises made to the community in 2016. He is the only remaining board member from that time. A second reading will occur in April.
From the unapproved minutes:
Kevin Thornton stated the current high-school system is failing and there needs to be a swing more toward a system that encourages students who will not attend college through programs like the CTE and Moosalamoo. Mr. Thornton noted that crises are created in instances like what happened with the Vermont Principals’ Association expelling Mid-Vermont Christian School, which forfeited a game against Long Trail School due to a transgender athlete participating on the opposing team.
A motion was made by Kevin Thornton and seconded by Erik Pearsons for the Otter Valley Union Middle and High School to withdraw from the Vermont Principals’ Association until such time as the VPA recognizes the right to free speech and the value of dissent in a democratic society.
Mr. Thornton read the following prepared statement:
“I want to be clear about the issue here. It’s not whether a trans student should have the opportunity to play girls’ basketball. It’s whether anyone can be allowed to object to a trans student playing a girl’s sport, or indeed argue that trans women have unfair physical advantage in women’s sports. All Vermont Christion did was forfeit a game. The CVU girls’ basketball team won two games by forfeit this year when Mt. Mansfield and Essex, respectively, refused to play CVU over a matter of principle. Neither Mt. Mansfield nor Essex were punished by the VPA for their forfeits.
The VPA is taking the position that Mid-Vermont Christian’s action was so hateful and repugnant, so far outside the bounds of acceptable discussion, that Mid-Vermont must be banned and shunned, in all sports and activities, presumably forever. This is a patently dishonest stance on the VPA’s part. Whether trans athletes should be allowed to participate in women’s sports is a heated topic in multiple sporting organizations nationally and internationally. The two most famous trans athletes in the world, Caitlyn Jenner and Renee Richards, have both concluded that athletes who have gone through male puberty have unfair advantages when competing against women. Multiple millions of people agree with them. To take the position that this topic can no longer even be discussed is to attempt to silence and intimidate millions of reasonable, fair-minded people. Put simply, it’s an attempt to punish and censor people for their ideas. That’s why it’s imperative that this board stand against the VPA and for free speech.
We have to ask, too, what’s next? Can we expect Rice and Mount St. Joseph to be expelled from the VPA for teaching Catholic doctrine about sexuality in their religion classes? More importantly for us, will we be expected to suspend or otherwise punish any individual students who may refuse to take the field against a trans opponent or who express an opinion such as ‘men should not be allowed to play women’s sports?’ The recent incident in Randolph where a student was suspended for saying just that, suggests that we should fear the worst for the future of free expression of our own Supervisory Union. The VPA’s harsh punishment of Mid-Vermont Christian confirms it.
The fashionable current notion of ‘tolerance through coercion’ is a curse. We are witnessing the construction of a cultural infrastructure of censorship characterized by a totalitarian urge to punish and silence opposition. Blinded by self-righteous exultation, the VPA has willingly joined the purge of the politically unclean. We should stand against them. Despite painful potential consequences, it’s imperative that we teach our students, through our actions, that the basis of all liberty is freedom of conscience and free speech.”
It was noted there would be no sports, debate, theater, participation in the Vermont Drama Festival or any other VPA sponsored activities if the district were to withdraw. Natalie Steen asked how that would help the students at OV. Mr. Thornton stated they would learn that free speech is worth standing up for. Ms. Steen noted there are other ways to teach students about free speech and understands this is an important issue, but the Board would be punishing the district’s students to do that. Laurie Bertrand suggested rather than eliminating all extracurricular activities for the district’s students, the Board could send a strongly worded letter to the VPA, based on what Mr. Thornton has provided.
Barbara Ebling noted this was not an item warned on the agenda and parents were not made aware to enable them to provide comments. Ms. Ebling suggested placing it on a future agenda, as information should be provided prior to an action being taken by the Board. Brent Scarborough asked if there is a way to get other districts involved and Ms. Bertrand advised that Board chairs from other districts could be contacted. Greg Bernhardt stated this would be irresponsible of the Board in taking away activities from the district’s students, noting the Board can’t take away something from their educational experience, as some students’ activities are what keeps them in school. Mr. Bernhardt noted it would be absurd and did not think it should be entertained. He agreed that a letter could be written.
Brendan McLoughlin asked if anything like this had ever occurred before and what was the context. Mr. Thornton did not think that anything like this had happened before. Paul Lathrop stated that as a coach, his mindset is that first teachings come at home. Mr. Lathrop stated one cannot punish the masses to teach free speech but need to teach in a different way. He noted hats off to the people that are changing to feel good to themselves and stated as a parent, he will teach his children how to adapt. Kristin Hubert stated she has been a part of VPA for 20 years and she has not seen a sanction that is as open-ended and is not sure how it will end. Her worry as a Superintendent is that the Board would be acting unilaterally with the community and would also be impacting all of the elementary schools if not a member of the VPA. She stated students, teachers, and communities are a big part of making OVUU a unified district. Derek Larsen asked if there is a policy that allows the Board to be talking about this issue and is the Board in the business of making this type of decision. Ms. Hubert stated it may apply to the Treatment of Students. Laurie Bertrand noted she would prefer a strongly worded letter to the VPA, as she would refuse to punish the district’s students. Brett Mullins stated this is a sensitive topic and Mr. Thornton is not wrong for bringing it up as we have a country based on freedom of speech, but does not agree with the motion and would propose an amendment to change it to a letter to the VPA expressing the Board’s concerns.
Kevin Thornton rescinded the original motion.
A motion was made by Natalie Steen and seconded by Brett Mullins to write a Board-approved position paper and send it to Vermont Principals Association.
This motion was also rescinded until further discussion at the next meeting.
The Meeting adjourned at 8:31 pm.
