Miss Burgess, a parent and volunteer, told the Randolph Public Schools School Committee that statements made at the committee’s Nov. 14, 2024 meeting “implied impropriety” in her fundraising for a school field trip and harmed her personal and professional reputation. She said she has emails from district staff asking for help with fundraising and provided Venmo transaction records and a full accounting of donations to the committee and superintendent.

The parent said $2,755 was raised for the Wild Robot student experience. She said $2,150 came in corporate checks made payable to Randolph Public Schools, that $3.50 in checks were mailed to the superintendent’s office, $80 in cash was delivered to that office and that she wrote a check to cover certain Venmo receipts. Burgess said she requested an apology and retraction and brought documentation to the meeting because she had not received a timely response when she sought one earlier.

The committee read a prepared statement in response. Chair Miss Caradonna said the committee is “very appreciative of the hard work and time Miss Burgess has dedicated to the children of Randolph,” and that the concerns raised at the Nov. 14 meeting “related to policy and procedure and ensuring that district leaders comply with internal processes for all future fundraising efforts in accordance with school committee policy.” She added that the policy subcommittee is working with the superintendent and leadership team to improve protocols.

Caradonna also told the meeting the committee did not have concerns about Burgess’s fundraising efforts themselves and publicly thanked her for the work that “allowed so many of our students to attend their very first movie in a theater and see a book they read for summer reading.”

Committee members and staff said they plan to address procedural issues through the policy subcommittee and through the superintendent’s office; the statement directed future protocol changes to those bodies rather than to the volunteer involved. Committee members discussed funding and signage processes later in the meeting but did not take additional formal action on Burgess’s request for a retraction.

The public comment and the committee’s statement were recorded during the public comment portion of the meeting, and the committee specifically noted that the policy subcommittee will work with administration to improve fundraising protocols going forward.

Ending

Miss Burgess’s comments and the committee’s read statement closed the public comment segment. The committee said it will pursue policy and procedural clarifications but did not announce any disciplinary or legal steps related to the November 14 discussion.