By Michael Bielawski
The principal of Burlington High School Debra Beaupre resigned from her position, effective Nov. 28, after only about a half year on the job.
Beaupre pulled a smoke alarm in an effort to stop a fight in school in mid-October. BHS has no onsite school resource officers (police), following a decision by the school board earlier this year to remove them from the premises. Pulling a fire alarm for any reason other than a response to a fire is a crime. However, Burlington police did not investigate and are not pursuing legal action, and even the Burlington fire chief said he didn’t have a problem with Beaupre’s actions.
At a November school board meeting following the Beaupre incident, the board discussed placing security guards at school exits.
“I decided to evacuate the building to ensure safety and provide emotional space to students and staff amid a heightened, atypical situation,” she wrote in a letter to her community.
She continued, “I realize that this alternative was stressful in the moment, as fire drills are surprising and signal an emergency. At the time of the evacuation, students exited the building as they had been taught and the situation was diffused. I regret if any student or staff member is experiencing any lingering unsettledness.”
In a letter to the community Superintendent Tom Flanagan noted that there is currently a pattern of principals coming and going and they need to settle on someone. Beaupre was the school’s fourth principal in just three years.
Flanagan wrote that they are working to “fill these positions quickly to ensure that we have a full leadership team in place at BHS.”
Critics point to a lack of School Resource Officer
Online there have been numerous comments on the matter, both in support and criticizing the now-former principal. Merri Paquin of Williamstown noted that the school recently voted away their school resource officer, someone who would have been responsible for defusing a fight.
She wrote, “It also forced the fire department to respond with trucks at speed causing public harm. It took an ambulance out of service and it caused chaos in the school as the whole building was evacuated. All because she couldn’t handle a fight because they dismissed the Resource Officer.”
Patty Jordan Galinus also touched on this matter. She wrote, “Should have called upon your school security rather than be so stupid us pull the fire alarm.”
Phil Pugliese of Rutland noted that pulling fire alarms is becoming a bit of a trend in the news.
“Pulled a fire alarm to stop a fight, a member of Congress pulled a fire alarm to stop a budget vote last week. Apparently it is not a crime anymore,” he wrote.
Christopher Hurley wrote, “If a student did this, they would be kicked out of school and quite possibly be charged. She’s pretty stupid. Bye!”
Supporters say she did the best she could
Not everyone is blaming the former principal for what she did. Kay Bailey on Facebook said, “She is a principal, not a behavioral interventionist. There is not enough support in our school systems for children with behavioral issues. There is no winning in a situation like this … there’s always going to be someone that isn’t happy with the choice that was made.”
Paul Clark of St. Albans, a former high school principal, also commented in support. He wrote, “If she defused the problem, mission accomplished. Sometimes as an administrator you need to make decisions in the moment, you simply don’t have time to run through a litany of politically correct possibilities.”
Rebecca Bessette wrote, “I would have done exactly the same thing. She had a situation and she acted, that’s what she’s supposed to do. Best judgment in the moment and safest way to clear the space! Who knows, she may have avoided something much worse. Hats off to her!”
The undecideds
Some folks online are just unsure whether the principal did the right thing or not. Jennifer Rand Thomas in Barre wrote, “Many are jumping to opinions without all the facts. Jumping to conclusions. Placed on paid leave of course pending further investigation. There’s no saying she did wrong or right. We can’t form an educated opinion without all the info. Many jumping to conclusions with Lil facts or a political view at that!”
Thomas was responding to Matt Anderson of Rutland who simply wrote, “I don’t have enough info to have an intelligent opinion on this situation.”
Alarm pulled at the U.S. Capital
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-NY, was under investigation after video footage of him pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol office building in September prompted Republicans to accuse him of violating laws that were also used to prosecute January 6 defendants.
“The incident, however, sparked serious backlash from prominent Republicans who demanded that he be criminally charged for his actions and compared his actions to the actions of some of those who were arrested for their participation during the January 6 riot,” the DailyWire.com report stated.
Bowman was eventually charged with a misdemeanor for the incident and he was required to offer a formal apology to Capital Police.
False fire alarms are costly. One report states, “Fire departments in the United States reported 896,500 false fire alarms in 1980. Since that time, the number has currently grown by more than 230 percent to an astonishing 2.12 mill [National Fire Protection Association [NFPA] of Quincy, Massachusetts].”
The author is a reporter for the Vermont Daily Chronicle