Green teams
Great skate
Architect, construction firms win award for energy efficiency
South Burlington hockey player ices the cake with Team USA gold
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the APRIL 24, 2025
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VOLUME 49, NO. 17
Educators and board square off in meeting Dozens of high school staff sign off on complaint alleging racial discrimination LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Tensions between the South Burlington school board and district educators boiled over at a contentious and emotional school board meeting last week as complaints over racial discrimination and lack of leadership from the school district’s central office took center stage, despite attempts from the school board to curtail public comment. Dozens of educators sporting red shirts emblazoned with the South Burlington Educators Association logo filed into the building last Wednesday night, ready to speak out about things that have been simmering for a year. The association has been undergoing a “listening tour” since last spring, after the union’s co-presidents began hearing concerns in a multitude of areas from their membership. Earlier this month, two separate complaints from district staff were filed citing racial discrimination by superintendent Violet Nichols toward a high school counselor, Aquilas Lokossou, whose position at the district, among nearly
15 other full-time equivalent positions, will be cut next school year due to budget constraints. Lokossou’s complaint, filed April 2, was followed the next day by a secondary complaint signed and written by 65 high school staff members. The accusations stem from a March 25 incident where a high school student reportedly emailed Nichols, advocating for Lokossou’s position. According to the complaint, Nichols directed principal John Craig to meet with both Lokossou and Meghan Sweet, the school’s director of counseling, to ask whether Lokossou had any involvement in coaching or encouraging the student to send the email. The staffers argued, while many of their white colleagues have been in similar situations where students have spoken out in support of them and their programs, they have never been questioned by district administration about whether they influenced student advocacy. “The only discernible differ-
PHOTO BY LIBERTY DARR
South Burlington school employees wore red union t-shirts as they aired their grievances during last week’s school board meeting.
Me2 chorus says leave stigma at the door LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
A new chorus ensemble that meets weekly in South Burlington has one message for those who may be looking to join: Come as you are. Me2 is a classical music organization created specifically for individuals with mental illnesses and the people who support them, with locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire
See DISCRIMINATION on page 3
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and Vermont. Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Faith United Methodist Church in South Burlington turns into a different kind of church, as people from all ages and walks of life gather to find healing through song. Me2 was founded in 2011 in Burlington by renowned music director Ronald Braunstein and executive director Caroline Whiddon. Braunstein graduated from the Juilliard School and he
spent nearly 15 years educating some of the nation’s most talented young musicians at his alma mater and the Mannes School of Music preparatory division. But by the age of 55, he realized his mission was even greater. He created Me2 to work with others who are battling mental illness, as he struggled with bipolar disorder. See CHOIR on page 2