In the wake of a presidential election that will send Donald Trump back to the White House, leaders of Vermont’s most racially diverse school districts are taking steps to reassure students, parents and staff who are feeling anxious about the future.
Trump’s campaign was rife with anti-immigrant rhetoric, and he has vowed to roll back the rights of transgender youths. That prompted school leaders in Burlington and Winooski — home to hundreds of students who are racial minorities, immigrants and refugees — to send out messages both before and after the election about ways to discuss the results.
On Wednesday, Burlington School District superintendent Tom Flanagan sent out two letters — one to educators, one to students and families — acknowledging the heightened emotions that many are feeling. Flanagan said he had visited Edmunds middle and elementary schools that day. Many students were feeling “angry and sad” and had questions about laws that might change as a result of the election.
“What struck me most this morning is how many of our students and colleagues are feeling real anxiety about their physical safety, about whether they or their family members will be able to stay in the country, and about access to reproductive healthcare,” Flanagan wrote in the letters.
In his note to students and families, Flanagan acknowledged that community members had differing reactions to the election results and underscored that “in a democracy, it’s important that citizens on multiple sides of issues are able to share their thoughts in a space free from bullying and harassment.”
“However, it’s also important to know that regardless of which candidate you supported, many students are feeling the concerns shared above deeply and are talking about them in school,” he continued.
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“We will continue to be a district that fosters open dialogue, relationships, empathy, and connection,” Flanagan wrote. “And we will continue to remind each other that all are welcome and hate has no home here.”
In Winooski, more than one-third of its roughly 770 students are English language learners, many of whom came to Vermont through refugee resettlement. On the day before the election, superintendent Wilmer Chavarria — who grew up in a refugee camp in Nicaragua and didn’t learn English until he was in high school — sent a letter to staff acknowledging that the next few days would test educators’ resilience. He asked them to prepare for difficult days ahead.
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“I am encouraging everyone, including leaders, to be flexible and understanding with both students and fellow educators,” Chavarria wrote. “Please avoid major or consequential assignments for students this week and be ready to make exceptions based on student’s and colleague’s mental health needs.”
In an email to Seven Days on Thursday, Chavarria said that since the election, he has been looking out for the well-being of his staff. He provided coffee, cookies and doughnuts for them on Wednesday and has been regularly visiting classrooms to check in.
Winooski High School teacher Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, who was recently named Vermont’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, helped craft guidance for staff about how to talk about the election with students; it was shared last week.
“There is obviously an important balance here,” the guidance states. “[W]e don’t want to inundate students but we also want to be culturally relevant and responsive to students’ needs.”
The guidance encourages educators to “create space for processing” the news — using questions including “How does this make you feel?” and “What do you wonder/question?” It also states that students “may have questions you cannot answer” and advises teachers not to “rush to intellectualize” and to “model not-knowing.”
MacLeod-Bluver said she and another teacher hosted an optional conversation about the election for students on Wednesday. In an email to Seven Days, she said she had heard a variety of reactions from students during that gathering, as well as in class and in hallway conversations.
“I feel angry, anxious, scared for the U.S., scared for the homeless, scared for non-citizens, numb, tired for the ones that fought hard to keep people safe,” one student shared.
“I’m so glad I have papers. Everyone else like me without papers is going home,” said another.
“My hope is that each state will think of the women and the trans community when it comes to healthcare,” another shared.
In a message to Winooski School Board members shared with Seven Days, Chavarria expressed gratitude for educators and school staff who “have shown up for students during a tumultuous time.”
“While this is a time of uncertainty for many, it is also a reminder of the power of our immediate human environment,” Chavarria wrote, “and how much it matters to come together as a community even against a national backdrop that may look different.”
This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2024.
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