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Burlington school committee hears broad public outrage over controversial student survey; district orders review
Summary
Parents, students and teachers pressed Burlington Public Schools on an opt-out lapse and explicit questions in a youth risk survey. The district said it has engaged an outside evaluator, ceased contracting with the longtime vendor and will not resume large-scale student surveys until policy changes are adopted.
Public comment at the Burlington Public Schools School Committee meeting on May 1 drew sustained testimony from parents, students and teachers about the administration and content of a recent youth risk survey, prompting the superintendent to say he had hired an independent evaluator and that the district had ended its contract with the survey vendor.
School Committee Chair read a statement from the school council saying the district "is no longer contracting with JSI" and that a review of the 2025 survey administration is underway. Superintendent Dr. Conte told the committee he had engaged an outside evaluator, Jeff Sankey, "who is a former military trial judge," and that Sankeys report was expected the following week.
The meeting record shows strong public anger about both the content of the survey and how it was administered. Multiple speakers said parents were not given clear notice that their children could opt out. A prepared school council statement said the district "has only been able to confirm 5 instances, whereby students whose parents opted them out participated in the survey." Several parents and two middle school students described questions they called inappropriate and said students were left believing the survey was mandatory.
Committee members and district staff described next steps rather than new formal policy votes. Dr. Conte said the district had posted materials for parents by May 1, that it is "currently not doing any student surveys," and that there is no schedule to administer the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) until at least 2027. He also said the outside evaluator would deliver recommendations and that any future survey work would be subject to new policy development and approval by the school committee.
Representatives of the Burlington Education Association addressed the committee and said the union supported a review of survey administration and improved communication; the union statement rejected claims that educators were intentionally harming students and urged collaborative improvement. The school councils prepared statement also said the district had acknowledged mistakes and emphasized transparency and accountability while federal complaints were pending.
Committee members and staff discussed the state Comprehensive Health and Physical Education (CHPE) frameworks and the limits of opt-out rules. The assistant superintendent said some health curriculum standards are mandatory and others include lessons or topics for which families can opt out; district staff said they would resend opt-out notices and make curriculum materials more available to parents.
The meeting included 30 minutes of public comment; no formal motion to censure or to remove the superintendent was taken that evening. Instead, the committee heard requests from parents for records and sought clarification of administration procedures. The superintendent said the report from the independent evaluator would be posted to the district website when complete and that policy recommendations and implementation steps would come back to the committee for formal first and second readings.
The record shows substantial and sustained community concern; the district has taken immediate administrative steps (ending the vendor contract, engaging an evaluator, pausing surveys) and signaled further formal policy work to follow.
