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Residents question board transparency after superintendent incident; board says statement will speak for district
Summary
Multiple residents criticized the Region 15 Board of Education’s handling of a recent personnel incident involving Superintendent Smith and called for greater transparency; the board said its posted statement would serve as the district’s public comment for now.
Board members and several community members addressed a recent personnel incident involving Superintendent Smith during the meeting. The board said it would not discuss the issue further at the session and posted a statement on the district website; board members said they want the board statement to "speak for the district" while personnel processes continue.
In public comment, multiple residents criticized the board’s communication and urged greater transparency. One resident said the community first learned about the incident via media coverage and asked why the board had not proactively provided basic information. That speaker recommended the superintendent have been placed on administrative leave so the board could gather more information while the superintendent could manage legal proceedings without ongoing public distraction: "I would have liked to have seen Mr. Smith placed on administrative leave so that the board could gather more information," the commenter said.
John Beamer, identified in the transcript, said he was disappointed by how the board handled the matter and said the district’s stated values of transparency and collaboration had not been met in this instance.
Emily Carrington, speaking for SMART (Southbury Middlebury Acting Responsibly Together), urged an approach focused on prevention, accountability and compassion and offered SMART’s services to support education and substance misuse prevention work in the district. Carrington stated SMART’s mission and said the group is available to collaborate with schools on prevention programming.
At least one board member asked the community to be patient and said the board’s website statement was the district’s current public comment while noting there would be a future opportunity for Superintendent Smith to address the community directly. Several speakers requested the board provide additional information where legally possible and to reengage the community in a more open way.
No formal board action on personnel was taken in open session during the meeting; the transcript shows the board addressing statement publication and public comment only.
