Earlier this afternoon, Burlington School District (BSD) Superintendent Yaw Obeng released a statement announcing that two of the three remaining candidates for the Burlington High School (BHS) principal position have dropped out.

“The competition for principals in Vermont and the U.S. is higher than usual this year and this is the fourth candidate that we have lost to other districts,” Obeng’s statement read.

According to a Vermont Legislative Research Service report title Vermont’s Principal Shortage, this deficit seems to be nothing new. The report, which was published in May of 2000, examined the ongoing scarcity for qualified principal applicants that faces the nation — Vermont being no exception. Authors of the report credited this to the evolution of the job description.

“This has put more stress on individuals and made the job less appealing for the relatively low amount the position pays,” the report said.

“With principals, I can remember getting a dozen or two applicants for almost every job, and now sometimes are you’re getting two or three, and only one or two of those is licensed,” Vermont Principals Association Executive Director Jay Nichols said in a 2018 interview with VT Digger.

Both candidates revoked their applications in order to “pursue leadership opportunities in other districts in and out of the state of Vermont.”

In his statement, Obeng referenced the need to honor the application of current Interim Principal Noel Green. The district plans to proceed by following through with the public forum scheduled for 6:00 PM tomorrow at BHS.

“To be fair to our remaining candidate, the team feels it to be important and respectful to complete our current process before making recommendations to me and/or discussing other options,” Obeng wrote.

Tune into The Register’s Facebook for a livestream of the public forum tomorrow evening.