By Beacon Staff
The Burlington School Board was divided on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 21) on a measure appointing Monica Myers as the interim principal of Burlington High School.
The vote came during a special school board meeting.
The status of the current principal, David Keane, is unclear.
School officials nor board members say they can comment on his employment due to workplace confidentiality. Keane was still listed as a principal on the high school website as of Tuesday afternoon.
“As I mentioned in my board report weeks ago and then at the last meeting’s board report, we are prepared, underneath guidance from our attorney, to name an interim (principal) at the high school,” Coen said.
Coen said the school district's attorney would answer questions about Keane’s employment status at the next board meeting in January.
School board members Joel Sieren, Darven Kendell, and Nancy Hoelzen voted to approve the human resources report appointing Myers as interim principal. Board members Anika McVay, Scott Mason, and Christi Burghoffer voted against it.
With a tied vote, the motion failed. School board member Deb Hatteberg wasn’t available for the special meeting.
After the vote, Sieren, school board president, indicated that Keane no longer performs his functions as principal at the school.
“So we will continue without leadership at the high school for another few weeks,” Sieren said just before the meeting ended.
Several board members voiced their displeasure regarding the lack of information on the agenda for the special meeting and the hiring of an interim principal.
Kendell said it felt like a slap in the face to the school board and staff, who were not notified for the past two months about the status of Keane’s employment.
Mason was equally frustrated with the meeting and how Myers was chosen without prior consultation with the board. Burghoffer shared the same concerns.
“We’ve had staff, for the lack of a better term, twisting in the wind at the high school," Mason said. "Now, we’re going to make this change?”
Mason said staff at the school are scared to voice their displeasure at the lack of information. But they do have strong opinions on the matter, based on emails, he added.
“The teachers don’t have a voice,” he said.
Coen said he delayed informing the board and the public about the replacement for two weeks longer than expected due to the death of Monica Myer's husband, Notre Dame basketball coach Jim Myers.
Monica Myers has 30 years of experience in the Burlington School District as a teacher and in various teacher leadership positions. For the past six years, she has served in a district-wide leadership role as the teacher leadership and mentoring coordinator.
“We looked at Monica Myers' strengths, abilities, experience, and we thought she is the individual to lead this (Burlington High School) in this dire situation,” Coen said. “However, we could not do that when her husband had just passed away. So we bit the bullet and let people kick us around like dogs for two weeks in the best interest of the school district.”
“I’m going to try to put the best person in there, even if I have to get kicked around for two weeks,” Coen said.