Moretown teacher picked to be Crossett Brook co-principal
April 1, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Foliage at Crossett Brook Middle School, October 2022. File photo by Lisa Scagliotti
A 15-member committee charged with rounding out the leadership team for Crossett Brook Middle School next year has chosen a Moretown teacher currently working at Winooski Middle-High School.
Superintendent Mike Leichliter announced Friday afternoon that Jennifer Clark Durren has been offered the position to serve alongside Duane Pierson as co-principals for the 2023-24 school year.
Durren was one of three finalists that the selection committee chose from this week after they visited the school and had additional interviews. The recommendation now goes to the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board for review and approval on Tuesday.
The committee received 17 applications for the position including current Crossett Brook Principal Tom Drake whose resignation announcement in January led to the hiring search. The decision by the school’s 14-year veteran administrator then gave the district two top positions to fill because the school’s assistant principal job has been vacant since the fall when new Assistant Principal Kellie Klasen resigned after about four months into the school year to take a position in the Burlington School District.
After Drake said he would step down in June, the superintendent said the district would look to fill both positions as co-principals for the 2023-24 school year. The first decision came quickly with the announcement in late January that Duane Pierson, currently assistant principal overseeing Harwood Middle School, would move to Crossett Brook.
A 20-year veteran of the Harwood district, Pierson has served as principal at Harwood Union High School and Moretown Elementary School. The announcement of his impending move to Crossett Brook, however, led Drake to reconsider his departure and he put his name back into consideration for the co-principal job given the new arrangement. The two currently work closely and had been anticipating eventually being co-principals when and if the district’s two middle schools merged – a move the district aimed for but halted when voters rejected the nearly $60 million school construction bond in November 2021. It would have expanded Crossett Brook to allow for the merger.
The hiring committee named Drake as a finalist along with Durren and district resident and Crossett Brook alumna Katelyn Liptak, who currently works as an associate principal in the First Branch Unified School District in Tunbridge and Chelsea.
Extensive classroom experience
The search committee chose Jennifer Clark Durren to be one of two co-principals at Crossett Brook Middle School starting July 1. The school board approves principal hires. Courtesy photo
Leichliter, who was one of the members of the hiring committee, said the group looked for someone to complement Pierson and that Durren’s experience as a classroom teacher fit that bill.
In a letter announcing the committee’s choice, Leichliter described Durren as “a highly successful classroom teacher” whose perspective will be valuable in the middle school role and on the district’s administrative team.
“The last three years have been challenging for teachers in HUUSD and throughout the United States. While Duane brings a depth of experience as a principal, Jen will lend the perspective of a classroom teacher who understands the joys and demands of teaching our most precious resource – our students,” the superintendent wrote.
Durren is a graduate of Castleton State College with a bachelor’s degree in natural science. She received her teaching licensure at Johnson State College and a master’s in educational leadership at the University of Vermont.
She is in her first year teaching math at Winooski Middle-High School but her career spans 17 years in a number of Vermont schools. She previously spent five years at Lamoille Union Middle School in Hyde Park as a math teacher and department head. Before that, her resume includes one year as a math and science teacher and assistant director at the private Endeavour Middle School in Shelburne; two years as a math intervention specialist at People’s Academy in Morrisville, and middle school math and science teaching roles at Albert D. Lawton Middle School in Essex, Barre Town Middle School and Washington Village School.
Leichliter highlighted Durren’s qualifications, specifically her background in curriculum design, experience as a behavior interventionist, knowledge of support systems for students and a personal “focus on student engagement, academic rigor, and restorative practices.”
Leichliter shared a statement from Durren saying she’s looking forward to this next step as a middle school administrator: “I really appreciate the care and dedication that was put into the search process. I am very excited to be partnering with Duane Pierson and the entire Crossett Brook Middle School community as we move into our future together,” she said.
The district will share more details soon on the transition plan that will have opportunities for students, parents, and Crossett Brook teachers and staff to meet with both Pierson and Durren, Leichliter said.
Reached late Friday, Drake said although he had hoped the committee would have made a different choice, he will work over the next three months to assist with the transition.
“While I am personally disappointed that I will not have the opportunity to work directly at CBMS with Duane Pierson, I firmly believe that Duane and Jen will make an excellent co-principal team who will continue the good and hard work at CBMS,” Drake wrote to Waterbury Roundabout in an email. “I look forward to supporting the transition over the next few months.”
Leichliter said a similar process is under way with a committee to fill the assistant principal position for Harwood Middle School. That hire does not need to be approved by the school board.
Tandem roles
Durren’s selection comes three weeks after her husband, Ben Clark, was elected to a three-year term on the HUUSD School Board as a new representative from Moretown. Clark was the only candidate on the March 7 ballot for the seat formerly held by Lisa Mason. Current board Chair Kristen Rodgers is Moretown’s other member on the school board.
State law prohibits school district employees from serving on school boards without special approval from the Education Secretary. There are no restrictions on family members of school employees, however.
In an email to the Waterbury Roundabout and The Valley Reporter, Rodgers acknowledged that some topics before the board could pose a conflict of interest for Clark such as issues related to compensation and job security. These could be addressed on a case-by-case basis, Rodgers said, with Clark recusing himself from those discussions and votes.
“Ben is well aware of what it will mean for him to stay on the board with a spouse in an administrative position. I have full confidence and expectation Ben will recuse himself when needed,” Rodgers said.
It’s not unusual for such situations to arise living in a small community that depends on citizens to serve on elected boards, Rodgers said. “Regardless, as an elected board member, we need to hold ourselves to be ethical and follow the law.”
In a reply to Waterbury Roundabout, Clark said he’s been open with the board since the situation arose weeks ago when the Crossett Brook position became open before the Town Meeting Day election where he already was on the ballot as a candidate.
“Vermont's a small town, and we have laws covering this sort of thing,” he said. “I remind everyone that it is the superintendent that supervises teachers and administrators – not board members – and I will recuse myself in all matters related to administration.”
Rodgers noted that the situation has come up before. “In the nearly five years I have been on the board, there have been other instances where a board member’s significant other held an administrative position in the district,” she wrote. “That board member continued on the board and [it] is up to the board member to recuse themselves from relevant voting.”
It is not clear whether all of the hiring committee members were aware of the potential conflict. The committee included several school board members and district administrators along with parents, a student, and several Crossett Brook staff members. “Asking personal questions about a spouse or children is considered an inappropriate interview question,” Rodgers explained. “We wanted to make sure that candidates were being considered on their own merits and she rose to the top.”
Clark said he and his family are happy with the new position Durren will take on next. “Jen and I have three children together and we are all proud of her accomplishments, and of her getting this position entirely based on best fit for her and the district,” he said. “I am proud of the Harwood Union Unified School District, and the steps leadership and the committee took to ensure this process was objective, ethical and transparent – focused on the needs of our children.”
The school board has scheduled a special meeting via Zoom for 6 p.m. on Tuesday to consider two items: approving the co-principal hire and voting to authorize the $3 million of projects on the district’s maintenance list to be completed in the 2023-24 school year starting this summer. The agenda with the Zoom link is available online in the Board section of the HUUSD.org website. Meetings are also recorded and available to watch online on the district’s YouTube channel.