School board upholds sexual-harassment finding and votes to terminate employee

The Manon Union High School District No. 14 Board of Directors on June 3 moved into executive session and voted to terminate an employee, citing unprofessional conduct, and to uphold a prior finding of sexual harassment under the district's "policy 401." The board directed its attorney to prepare the formal written decision.

Board member Beth moved "to accept the recommendation of the superintendent to terminate the employee effective today based on unprofessional conduct," and Board member Nelson seconded the motion, the transcript shows. The board recorded that the motion carried and instructed the attorney to write the decision. The transcript indicates Board member Kristen abstained from at least one vote; exact vote tallies were not specified in the record.

Earlier, the board voted to enter executive session under 1 V.S.A. § 313(a)(4) for a disciplinary or dismissal action against a public officer or employee and specified that Nick G from human resources, Superintendent Payne, and Aina Atlin from legal counsel should attend.

Following the termination motion, Board member Beth moved a second motion "to uphold the finding of sexual harassment of employees policy 401," which Board member Scott McNini seconded. The transcript records that the motion proceeded; it does not include a roll-call or a numerical vote total.

The board concluded by directing the attorney to prepare the written decision documenting the outcomes and then adjourned the meeting. The transcript does not name the employee, and no public comment about the personnel matter was recorded during the meeting.

The board's actions appear to be internal personnel decisions made under the district's administrative rules; the transcript includes repeated references to legal counsel and human-resources participation during the executive-session motion.

Next steps: the attorney was directed to draft the decision and the board adjourned; the transcript does not record a timeline for publication of the written decision or any further public hearing on the matter.