Editor: A Langley School District press release said that Superintendent Cheryle Beaumont “is leaving the school district to pursue other ventures.”
The local newspapers all originally reported she left the school district of her own free will, based on this press release. It duped the media and the public.
How and when did Chair Wendy Johnson intend to inform the public that there actually was a cost related to the pending severance package? Or was the intention to bury the cost in the budget? To mislead the public by suggesting she resigned was a shameful decision on the board’s part.
How much will Beaumont’s severance be? At a salary of $193,000 a year, it could in fact be three times that amount.
Surely to goodness the public will now realize that there was value in keeping her on until the end of her contract, if for no other reason than Langley School District does not need this expense at this time.
The personal vendetta carried on since the reconfiguration of H.D. Stafford has led to her firing. It has taken six years, and now the Stafford families are rejoicing. We have four trustees sitting at the board today who have come directly out of that battle.
I’ve heard from several H.D. Stafford parents and teachers who are very happy about this. When I asked if they are concerned about what this will cost the district, they responded by basically saying they are simply glad she is gone at any cost. I cannot believe that these people who were so relentlessly vocal about raising their concerns about how the school district spends money cannot see that this additional expense is going to hurt Langley.
It is at their children’s expense. The fact that the deficit reduction is ahead of schedule has been ignored. Our student success achievements released at the last public meeting in December were ignored.
Trustees' responsibility is to make decisions which are in the best interest of the school district as a whole, and our children specifically. I do not believe this decision, which will cost Langley significant dollars, represents a decision which is in the best interest of our children or Langley as a whole. Trustees needed to continue to be fiscally responsible. Anything less was irresponsible.
Now the entire community of Langley will pay because five trustees voted to remove the Superintendent, because they did not like her.
Sonya Paterson,
Langley