EAST HAVEN, Vt. (AP) – Three full-time teachers and a part-time principal and guidance counselor at the town elementary school resigned as part of an ongoing dispute with the school board.
Two additional teachers had already announced they planned to resign at the end of the school year.
The staff who handed in their resignations on Monday will work until the end of the year.
The East Haven River School has about 40 students.
“I see a school in such turmoil over small issues that could have been resolved,” said Principal Shirley Richardson, who was among those who announced their resignations at a Monday meeting. “It is really, really a sad day in this town.”
School Board Chairman Roger Colby said there had been problems at the school for a long time.
At a Monday meeting, some of the outgoing teachers expressed their frustration.
“This is about children’s education and not about power,” Richardson said. “You just lost your whole teaching staff and you smile,” she said to Colby.
The board tabled a motion to accept the resignations until the town has an approved school budget. A Town Meeting Day vote failed on a proposed $878,564 budget.
Caledonia North Supervisory Union Superintendent Scott Graham said the board couldn’t advertise the teaching jobs until a budget has been approved.
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