MVSD School Board Chair defends Sousa

Dear Editor,

I write this letter as a parent and grandparent, a retired French and Spanish teacher with 44 years of experience, and a current school board chair. After receiving a letter requesting the dismissal of superintendent Sherry Sousa due to a lawsuit settled a year ago, I have engaged with community members, spoken with board members, and done some research regarding the lawsuit. I have read the complaint that was made to the Human Rights Commission and the response from the school district. Harassment, hazing, and bullying are societal problems. It is unacceptable and must be taken seriously when it occurs in our schools.

In recent years, schools have worked hard to address the harm that harassment, hazing, and bullying do to kids, particularly to students of color and those who are gender-nonconforming. The MVSU School Board initiated an HHB (hazing, harassment, and bullying) policy in 2021. The board reviewed and passed it in 2022 (available on the MVSU website under policies) with significant collaboration from two Vermont Law School students.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Sherry Sousa, the staff began an intense focus on racism, implicit bias, and how to address these issues in the classroom. Professional development was offered monthly with Dr. Luvelle Brown from Ithaca, New York, a black superintendent who worked hard to transform his school district into an anti-racist school. He was a consultant to the incident that resulted in the lawsuit and suggested various pathways to move forward. Teachers and staff participated in book studies and opportunities to build curriculum and met with Dr. Brown. During the professional development days at the start of the school year this fall,  Big Hartman, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, came to further educate the administration, teachers, and staff as to how they can protect students being bullied, combat racism, and other forms of harassment. I also went to the training and learned from it. There is always work to be done, areas to grow, and the need to continuously improve.

In response to the three requests in the letter, my response is:

Superintendent Sousa has been the most proactive superintendent regarding protecting students marginalized in our community I have ever seen. Her 40 years in education have been spent working with special education students and as superintendent, promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students.

The school district has engaged with the Human Rights Commission to provide professional development and has policies, procedures, and practices in place to protect all students. Many of the incidents cited in the lawsuit happened via cell phones and social media outside of school.

The school board performs an evaluation of the superintendent every year, along with the school directors. It is anonymous and is shared with Ms. Sousa. An annual survey is given to faculty and staff to assess her performance based on the Vermont Standards for School Administrators. In addition, parents, faculty, and staff contribute to the Quaglia Culture Survey. This will be our third year offering this survey at the end of February.

I support Superintendent Sousa as our district leader. This district takes hazing, harassment, and bullying seriously. Completing a thorough investigation while supporting the students involved, as well as adhering to timelines, presents challenges and opportunities to improve and grow. 

We all need to do the work to understand our biases and our worldviews and diligently teach our children about the harm that they can do with words and actions that are cruel, mean, and ignorant. I believe that Mountain View School District is working conscientiously to address these issues through professional education, honest dialogue with the students, and confronting prejudicial and racially based actions.

Kerilyn Bristow,
Woodstock, MVSD School Board Chair