A rare find
All-state
Plant rediscovered on Mansfield after 100 years
Soccer coaches pick players for top honors
POSTAL CUSTOMER
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #217 CONCORD, NH ECRWSSEDDM
Page 19 Page 18
South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the NOVEMBER 23, 2022
otherpapersbvt.com
VOLUME 46, NO. 47
City gets brand new dog park Farrell Park still a ruff patch COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
What a glorious day it was, Nov. 4, for South Burlington’s dogs, who had 1.5 acres of free rein to run and romp at the Wheeler Dog Park. The day marked the end of the “long odyssey” of delays and setbacks for an anxiously awaited, years-in-the-making destination park for the city’s hundreds of dogs. Approved by the development review board late last year, the final design featured a 2-acre park on the Wheeler property off Dorset Street that was later reduced to 1.5 acres in the fall. “All the work that so many people put in to making that happen, and all the staff, it’s just wonderful to see dogs running free,” said Matt Cota, South Burlington council member and the liaison to the committee on common areas for dogs. “For those people — and there are many of you, including myself — who don’t have a yard, this is See DOG PARK on page 20
PHOTO BY COREY MCDONALD
People and their pets enjoy the newly opened Wheeler Dog Park on Nov. 19.
School District appoints Nichols superintendent Public voices concern over hiring process LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Violet Nichols has been named permanent superintendent of schools for the South Burlington School District. The school board made the announcement at its Nov. 16 meeting that Nichols, who had been interim superintendent for the past five months, would assume the district’s top job. Her contract will run through
June 30, 2025. Nichols, a Shelburne resident and native Vermonter, officially joined the district in 2021, moving from Addison Northwest School District, where she was director of learning and technology. Before becoming interim superintendent, Nichols served as the South Burlington School District’s recovery coordinator — navigating and allocating the pandemic relief funds. She also held the role of director of learning and managing
DINE-IN & TAKE OUT
VIA ONLINE ORDERING
the district’s equity committees. She became interim superintendent when David Young resigned in February after nearly a decade in that position. Before resigning from the school board in August, Michelle Boyer spearheaded the superintendent search process, which kicked off soon after Town Meeting Day. The board voted to hire an interim replacement for the school year while a search for a long-term superintendent was conducted. A 15-member search committee reviewed applications, including that of Lisa Cala Ruud, a school
administrator from New York, who was initially voted to take over as interim superintendent in June. Three days after the vote, Ruud declined the board’s offer, citing concerns about the search and hiring process. “My concern in accepting an appointment at this time is that I will have entered a space where the cards are already stacked against me because of the process by which I was selected,” Ruud wrote in an email to the board on June 19. Nichols’ appointment as interSee NICHOLS on page 23
Shelburne Road, S. Burlington Maple Tree Place, Williston
GetBlissBee.com #getblissbee