January 16, 2026
Dear Burlington Community,
As we head into this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, I am filled with a conflicting sense of hope and profound despair. Watching masked federal agents shoot people in the streets of Minneapolis and Portland is a sickening reminder of how fragile our nation is and how close we are to an authoritarian state.
Our mission to prepare students to be active members of our community and critical thinkers has never been more urgent. As adults, I know we are working hard to protect our students from these rising tides of injustice and prepare them to use their voices with power and conviction. I am proud to say we are doing that across our schools. Whether it is racial equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, or immigrant justice, the principles that leaders like MLK and Malcolm X fought for are under direct attack. We cannot be passive. We must be the light that inspires our students to grow into the leaders this country desperately needs.
The job ahead of us to ensure basic human dignity is massive, but our students are ready. I just learned that one of our own students, who is a long-time BHS Register staff writer and editor, was accepted early into Northwestern, a top-tier journalism school. I can’t wait to see what she does! Our job as educators is to ensure every single student has that same agency and the ability to look at a fractured world and have the skills to be part of the solution. This is what it looks like when we give our youth the tools to speak truth to power.
I saw this power in action yesterday at an event for middle and high school students, Sharing Our Stories: Breaking Barriers & Building on Brilliance; Highlighting Black Male Excellence. The event was part of the Sankofa series we started last year. Led by the Office of Equity and a group of dedicated educators, it was a brilliant display of Black excellence. To see our students affirmed, filled with joy, and conscious of their own agency gives me the hope I need to keep pushing myself as an anti-racist leader and to lead with equity front and center.
This weekend and beyond, I encourage you to move beyond simple reflection. Commit yourself to service and to the radical protection of our students’ futures. We have a big job to do to preserve and expand equity, and MLK showed us it can be done through collective commitment to doing what is just and right for all.
In solidarity,
Tom
