Anti-Nadeau Petition Filed
by Ben Hogwood

While reinstated teacher Wayne Nadeau cannot be legally removed from the
Lamoille Union High School, some members of the community circulated
copies of a petition in the area, hoping to force the social studies
teacher to resign.
Dick Cross, the former director of the Green Mountain Technical and
Career Center, along with a group of "concerned citizens," circulated
the petition in the LUHS region stating, "We, the undersigned, do not
want Wayne Nadeau at Lamoille Union High School due to his
unprofessional conduct and character." Approximately 500 people signed
the petition within about a week's time and on Tuesday, August 31, Cross
presented those signatures to Superintendent Terry Bailey during a
special meeting.
"Mr. Nadeau has had to be reinstated as a teacher at LUHS," stated a
letter Cross read to Bailey and the board at the meeting, referring to a
recent arbitration decision ruling the board did not have cause to fire
him. "We find this to be a deplorable situation."
Cross continued, stating, "It is our hope that this petition will assist
you in the Wayne Nadeau matter. We hope that Mr. Nadeau will finally
realize that we do not want him in our school system. The only right
thing, for him to do now, is to resign his teaching position and leave
the LUHS region quietly."
As the special meeting was called specifically for a different issue,
the board could not give Cross and the 12 other members in the audience
a response to the statement.
After the meeting, some attendees continued to discuss the subject in
the school hallway.
Lynne O'Leary, mother of a student at LUHS and a teacher at Cambridge
Elementary School, said she was concerned with the education of the
students in the school. "I'm concerned that what's happening is causing
a hostile environment for the students," she said. "As a teacher myself,
I'm concerned about the reflection on the teaching profession." O'Leary
clarified she was at the meeting strictly as a parent of a student.
"People don't want him here," she said