As the Superintendent of Burlington School District and the Chief of the Burlington Police Department, we wish to apologize to the students and staff in the Forensics section of Burlington High School’s Year End Studies (YES) program who witnessed a realistic armed robbery demonstration during their trip to the Burlington Police Department this week. 

It is clear to us that this week’s events resulted from a breakdown in communication between two groups trying to work together to create a meaningful experience for students. Both BSD and the BPD are committed to doing a better job of clearly laying out descriptions, expectations, and agendas and seeking clarification when working together in the future. Neither of us want any repeat of anything like this moving forward. 

Friday, BPD and representatives met with the students impacted by this situation for a restorative circle. Students, staff, and members of the police department had a chance to be together in a circle and were able to process and talk about the events of the day. Both the school and the police department believe in these processes, because they help repair harm in meaningful ways. Today’s circle reinforced our shared goal of serving our kids and building and maintaining our relationship. 

While restorative circle guidelines state that “What is said in the circle stays in the circle,” we want students to know that we understand the concerns shared in confidence today. Both BSD and BPD are committed to keeping this at the forefront of our minds and using best practices, including that curriculum is age-appropriate and trauma-informed, when creating educational experiences moving forward. 

We are truly sorry that this happened and we are committed to improving our systems both internally and when working together to make sure it will not happen again. 

Tom Flanagan, Superintendent of Burlington Schools 

Jon Murad, Chief of Police