What the heck was that school district email all about?
Leadership changes across the district prompt parent questions
Big changes are happening at the leadership level at Champlain Valley School District.
Photo by Robert Coleburn.
That cryptic email from the school district, explained
Chea Waters Evans
The email was titled CVSD Transitions, and it came from Champlain Valley School District Superintendent Rene Sanchez on April 5. It read, “I wanted to send this note to our community to acknowledge the change that’s underway in the district. We do have some transitions ahead, with movement in both district and school leadership. Some inaccurate information shared on social media has caused discomfort in our school and parent/caregiver communities. The inaccurate information has been corrected.”
No further details were given about that social media post, which led to the question, why would an inaccurate social media post merit a district-wide email from the superintendent? The post, though it did contain two inaccuracies, spoke to a larger question facing the school district that still remains: Why are eight administrators and district leaders leaving CVSD, and what can be done about it?
When he hopped on Facebook last week, Shelburne resident Dave Connery certainly didn’t intend to start a problem. All he wanted to do, he said, was express his frustration and sadness about Shelburne Community School Principal Scott Sivo leaving for a principal job in South Burlington.
In his post, Connery, a former CVSD school board member, encouraged other parents and community members to contact Sanchez and CVSD school board Chair Angela Arsenault with their concerns, and to pressure the district for answers as to why so many respected and experienced administrators and leaders are resigning or retiring from the school district. Connery included a list of people who were leaving; two of the names on his list were inaccurate, which caused the “discomfort” that Sanchez referenced in his email.
(An accurate list of departing CVSD employees is at the end of this article. In response to a question about rumors that Charlotte Central School co-principals Stephanie Sumner and Jen Roth leaving the school, Sanchez wrote in an email to The Charlotte Bridge, “At this time, the CCS co-principals are not leaving CVSD.”)
In an interview with The Charlotte Bridge, Connery said his original intention was to get out his feelings about Sivo’s departure. “So, I love Scott Sivo,” Connery said. “And I'm really sad to see him go. And some of what he wrote to the parents had implications: that things are difficult here and he wants to do something different. And I was sad to hear that.”
In an email to Shelburne Community School parents last week, Sivo wrote, “I anticipate that this announcement will soon be made public, so I wanted to make sure you learned about this from me, rather than through community rumors or press releases….My decision to explore this opening was one of the most difficult decisions I have made in my professional career and has nothing to do with the professional or personal satisfaction I get from my day-to-day at SCS. I have a deep passion and love for this school community and for this town. I love coming to work here each day and I adore our faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders.”
“The role of a school leader in the current educational environment can feel perilous on a good day. The ability to be bold and strong, in difficult moments, is predicated on trusting that you are well supported and fully backed by well-established systems of leadership and governance. While change is always difficult, the unprecedented amount of leadership change we have and will face as a school district, along with the general uncertainty it brings, greatly impacted my decision to seek and accept this new opportunity.”
The focus on the leadership change as a main reason for his departure was not part of Sivo’s email to his coworkers at SCS, which was obtained by The Charlotte Bridge.
Sivo wrote, “While I look forward to the new professional opportunities and challenges that are ahead of me, my focus over the next 10 weeks will be on assuring that this school community experiences a smooth and effective transition to the 22-23 school year. I will do anything and everything in my power to assure that this system is as healthy and as prepared as possible, come June 30th.
I have never formed professional relationships as deep and trusting as the ones that I have developed over my five years at SCS. I look forward to ensuring that many of those professional relationships are redeveloped as authentic and lasting friendships that extend beyond the confines of the shared workplace. I cannot thank you enough for your trust, your support, and most of all the care you show for the children of this community.”
In an email to The Charlotte Bridge, Sanchez addressed Connery’s social media post as well as some of the issues it brought up, and said that despite the fact that eight administrators and central office leaders are leaving, he thinks it is part of a normal turnover. “People are either leaving the school district to take on other positions or they are retiring,” he wrote. “Teachers and staff are currently in the part of the cycle where they’re indicating their intent to work here next year. At this time, the number of retirements is similar to what we’ve had in past years.”
Sanchez said that no extra measures have been taken to retain current employees in leadership positions. “With regards to administrators, many of the existing support systems and leadership opportunities continue to be in place. Additional communications and support systems put into place during COVID were maintained to offer advice and support.”
He said staff was “provided additional compensation during both Thanksgiving and April breaks to thank them for their efforts during the COVID pandemic. We have also raised the substitute pay rate to $17/hour and we raised all of our wages to a minimum of $15/hour. For teachers, we have provided time that was originally dedicated to district or school learning time to them to follow up on their own school needs or classroom requirements as a way to catch up and better serve their students.”
In his district-wide email, Sanchez also wrote that with the departure of longtime superintendent Elaine Pinckney, it was expected that there would be some departures. “We are very sorry to see them go, but they are leaving behind a strong and resilient system that will continue to support the children in our communities.” He also pointed to a general shift in education positions around the state, and said there were more than 30 job openings for school principals across the state just last month.
Connery said he spoke with the superintendent after his social media post started getting attention; he said he understands that there is turnover, and that people leave for better opportunities. As a parent and community member, though, he wants to know what CVSD’s plan is to retain great educators. “People move on. There's lots of opportunities. But to lose that many people in the central office, that's really a concern for me.”
Though the loss of so many CVSD leaders at once might be part of the education employment landscape at the moment, Connery said he still has concerns. “That’s really the heart of what I said in my note, and what my intent was. How can we change? How can the school board and superintendent work together to come up with a process and a procedure to make sure that all these leaders are having excellent communication, and getting their concerns met by everyone in the process, so everybody's heard and everybody gets the support they need?”
Here’s the list of administrators and district leaders who are leaving CVSD:
Jeff Evans, Director of Learning and Innovation
Mike Kanfer, Director of IT
John Pontius, Hinesburg Principal
Jeanne Jensen, Chief Operating Officer - retiring from COO role, but returning half-time on for special projects for the district
Meagan Roy, Director of Student Support Services
Peggy Sue Van Nostrand, Shelburne Special Education Administrator
Cassandra Townsend, CCS Special Education Director
Scott Sivo, Shelburne Lead Principal
Shelley Henson, Director of Early Education