#Vermont principal placed on leave over ‘insanely tone-deaf’ Black Lives Matter post

Enlarge Image

George Floyd protestors march through Main Street, in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Brattleboro Reformer via AP

A Vermont school principal was placed on administrative leave after she posted a Facebook status about the Black Lives Matter movement that has been blasted as “insanely tone-deaf.”

Tiffany Riley, who has been principal of the K-12 Windsor School in Windsor since 2015, made the comments on her personal page on Wednesday, The Valley News reported.

“I firmly believe that Black Lives Matter, but I DO NOT agree with the coercive measures taken to get to this point across; some of which are falsified in an attempt to prove a point,” Riley wrote, according to the school’s website. “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.”

“While I understand the urgency to feel compelled to advocate for black lives, what about our fellow law enforcement?” she added. “What about all others who advocate for and demand equity for all? Just because I don’t walk around with a BLM sign should not mean I am a racist.”

A group of recent graduates slammed the post as “insanely tone-deaf” and the Mount Ascutney School District Board wrote in a letter that it was “uniformly appalled” by the post.

“The ignorance, prejudice, and lack of judgement in these statements are utterly contrary to the values we espouse as a school board and district,” the letter said.

The school board held an emergency meeting Friday and voted unanimously to place Riley on paid administrative leave — with no plans to bring her back on board.

Superintendent David Baker told The Valley News the district will work on a “mutually agreed upon severance package” with Riley.

“They don’t see any way that she’s going to go forward as the principal of that building given those comments and that statement,” Baker said. “It’s clear that the community has lost faith in her ability to lead.”

In a follow-up Facebook post, Riley wrote that she “unintentionally offended” people, VT Digger reported.

“I understand the struggles of the black lives community and stand with them in their fight against racism,” Riley wrote.

But school board chair Elizabeth Burrows told the outlet the second post was unhelpful.

“It showed no assurances to African American families — black families — that their children could feel safe — that they are cherished and loved,” Burrows told the outlet.

Riley also wrote an email to school board leaders and the superintendent arguing her post had been “twisted” and “taken completely out of context,” according to the report.