The Mount Ascutney School District Board has unanimously voted to terminate Principal Tiffany Riley, pending an evidentiary hearing, after she posted a controversial Black Lives Matter comment on Facebook.
The hearing will take place in executive session within 15 days and the board will need to show just cause for terminating Riley. If Riley disagrees with the board’s decision, she can appeal in Vermont Superior Court.
No one was in attendance at the meeting where Riley was terminated. Superintendent David Baker said the district had “tech problems” in announcing the virtual meeting location. The board’s decision was announced after a 30-minute executive session.
School Board chair Elizabeth Burrows said in an email she had no additional comments.
The board placed Riley on paid administrative leave on June 12 after a Black Lives Matter flag wasn’t flown at Windsor High School’s graduation ceremony following a request from a former student. After graduation, Riley made a comment on her personal Facebook page.
“While I want to get behind BLM, I do not think people should be made to feel they have to choose black race over human race,” Riley wrote on Facebook June 10. She added, “Just because I don’t walk around with a BLM sign should not mean I am a racist.”
The post was widely circulated in the school community with some calling for the board to take action.
Superintendent David Baker sent Riley an email on June 12, saying the board had “no confidence” in her continued leadership at the school.
“Effective immediately, the Mount Ascutney School Board is placing you on paid administrative leave while we negotiate an exit strategy,” Baker wrote in the email.
Since then, Bill Meub, an attorney representing Riley, has argued that Riley was effectively terminated by the board.
“We believe the statements they made were real clear she was no longer going to be the leader of the school,” said Meub. “The board’s reaction of doing what they did without any investigation is what we consider to be inappropriate and a violation of her First Amendment rights.”
Riley filed a lawsuit against the board, the superintendent and six board members on June 29, alleging she was wrongfully terminated and claiming her First Amendment rights were violated and her due process rights were violated under the Fourteenth Amendment. She also said the board made defamatory remarks about her.
Meub said he wasn’t surprised the board initiated the process to terminate Riley on Monday night.
The same day the decision was announced, the Mount Ascutney School board filed a motion in Windsor Civil Court to dismiss Riley’s lawsuit, asserting she was not dismissed or terminated, but simply placed on leave. The board also filed a motion opposing a request for an expedited hearing and opposing Riley’s request for an injunction, which would prevent the board from taking action on Riley’s employment status.
Meub filed court documents requesting the court to determine if Riley was terminated or not.
“We’re at a stalemate until the court tells us what we will do or won’t do,” said Meub.
Riley had requested the board schedule a hearing on June 26 to acknowledge she was terminated and give her reasons for her termination under state law.
Pierto Lynn, an attorney representing the school district, said Riley was on leave to give board members time to decide how to proceed. He said he viewed Riley’s paid leave status as a “pause button.”
“It allows people to withdraw from the situation to consider their options,” said Lynn, who emphasized Riley “continues to receive full salary and benefits” as an employee.
The board has met several times in executive session and attempted to solve the issue in mediation with Riley, requesting that Riley attend a meeting on July 6 without her attorney present. The board indicated that Riley’s failure to attend the meeting would be considered insubordination.
“She’s not interested in mediation at all,” said Lynn.
Two months before Riley’s Facebook post, the board entered a new two-year contract with Riley, which included a $6,500 salary increase.
Under Vermont law, principals who have a contract can’t be terminated unless the school board has just cause.
“You can’t terminate (a principal) because you don’t like (them),” said Jay Nichols, the executive director of the Vermont Principals Association. “Once you give (the principal) a contract, you have to honor that contract or you have to have a real good reason to not honor that contract.”
Nichols said the law for determining just cause is “ambiguous” in the state and left for board members to determine.
“It’s determined based on your own beliefs,” Nichols said.
Meub said in a phone interview that he said he would file paperwork to prevent the board from scheduling a hearing to terminate Riley, maintaining that Riley has already been terminated.
In court documents, Meub said such a hearing would be a “sham” and would place Riley in a “heads I win, tails you lose” situation. Meub said the hearing would also cause further embarrassment to Riley.
“It’s inflicting harm and damage on Tiffany, who’s already suffered a lot,” Meub added in a phone interview.
Meub said Riley has always been a leader for equity and fairness.
“She acknowledged that she didn’t know certain words meant certain things to people,” Meub said. “She understands and accepts systemic racism and discrimination and is always trying to find ways we learn and teach from it.”
Riley will continue to be paid by the board until the outcome of the hearing is announced.
Two assistant principals are filling Riley’s role in the meantime.
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