Teachers in Hampshire Regional School District recently voted “no confidence” in their leader of schools, Superintendent Diana Bonneville.
Two unions representing teachers at Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton and an elementary school in Williamsburg cited issues with Bonneville around communication, transparency and allege a “toxic work environment” they say deteriorated morale in the district’s administrative office.
In June, a small group of students held a sit-in protest outside Bonneville’s office and hung posters on her office windows to object to the potential hire of an administrator. Erica Faginski-Stark, a Ludlow educator, ultimately lost out on the position after the district school officials voted against her appointment by Bonneville. Students and school officials cited Facebook posts she made in 2021 about transgender athletes.
Bonneville did not immediately return a request for comment.
The towns of Westhampton, Southampton, Chesterfield, Goshen and Williamsburg make up the Hampshire school district. The unions notified the district’s school committee on June 30 of the “no confidence” vote, according to a press release by the Hampshire Regional Education Association and Williamsburg Teachers Association.
The unions outlined 10 reasons for the loss of support in Bonneville. Among the reasons cited are claims that Bonneville created a work environment that “destroyed morale” in the Central Office for administrators and that she restructured the office without consulting stakeholders.
Teachers criticized Bonneville for continuing to pursue a candidate for an administrative position “whose values are not aligned with those of our community, despite unequivocal dismay and disapproval from community members when they learned about the possible hire.”
The press release did not include the candidate’s name.
The unions also claimed that Bonneville “forced out long-standing veteran staff who have contributed countless years of invaluable service and institutional knowledge to our schools.”
Other reasons outlined by the unions include:
- Failing to provide transparency, collaboration and clarity around the budget process.
- Providing inadequate communication in all aspects of her job.
- Demonstrating a lack of transparency, truthfulness, communication and collaboration surrounding the hiring processes for leadership positions.
- Presenting misinformation about the opinions of those on candidate search committees and about the particulars of the hiring process.
- Rejecting or ignoring colleagues’ and constituents’ attempts to provide constructive feedback regarding her decisions.
- Implementing, without substantial rationale, these fundamental restructuring changes, which have significant ramifications for the district’s education programs, health services and overall finances.
A combined meeting of the Hampshire Regional School Committee and committees for the district’s four elementary schools is scheduled for Thursday, July 27 at 5 p.m. in the high school’s library.
The posted agenda for the meeting states that the purpose of the meeting’s executive session is to “discuss the reputation, character, physical condition or mental health, rather than professional competence, of an individual, or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of, or complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual.”
