Burlington school board takes major step forward

June 28, 2007

The Burlington School Board on Tuesday made substantial progress toward the goal of excellence and equity for all Burlington children. In response to community input, the board explicitly defined the goals, challenges, stakeholders, and decision-making criteria for reviewing proposals.

During the five hour retreat, the board summarized the issue as tri-fold, maintaining our commitment to excellence, providing equal academic opportunities and ensuring financial sustainability. In Sept 2006, the School Board endorsed the principles of socioeconomic integration, or equalizing the percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced-priced meals at all schools, in response to the recommendations of the board-appointed task force. The need for balanced, mixed-income classrooms remains a critical link between excellence and equity. The board will require solutions to provide all students and teachers with a successful environment for learning and instruction.

The Board discussion also focused on defining measures of success and understanding and sharing district data as well as national research and best practices. The Board reflected upon the values of the community to maintain strong neighborhoods, choice and walkable schools.

Board President Thomas Fleury reinforced the Board's commitment to a clear and predictable public process and stated "in response to public feedback, we felt it was absolutely necessary that we clarify the issue and define evaluation criteria before reviewing proposals and establishing the process. We believe it will best serve the community, and our children, to first have a comprehensive understanding of the challenge before us." The board scheduled a follow-up retreat for August 23rd to develop a transparent public process and timeline and to utilize the decision-making criteria to evaluate specific plans.