By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
WINDSOR, Vt. — The Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union and its member districts are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the next state board of education meeting on Thursday in Barre.
This meeting may be the last time the board will consider changes to the draft plan before the scheduled release of its final Act 46 plan on Nov. 30. According to the agenda, the board plans to take some time at this meeting to “revisit and ratify” earlier decisions. One of those is the decision to leave Hartland and Weathersfield alone, as part of the WSESU.
However, that item is not in the same category as the following agenda item, “Review Provisional Decisions and SU Boundaries” which is about Arlington and Sandgate school districts.
The union now consists of the school districts in Mount Ascutney (Windsor and West Windsor), Weathersfield, and Hartland. In June and October, the state board decided to leave Weathersfield and Hartland alone and not make them merge, following a request from both of those districts under Section 9 of Act 46. The possibility of a Weathersfield/Hartland merger had been studied intensively, the districts told the state, under what was called a Section 706 Study Committee. That committee “determined that a merger between Hartland and Weathersfield was not in our best interests. After careful study and consideration, we were not able to identify educational or financial benefits from merging,” said the joint statement.
The secretary of education went along with that argument, and the state board tentatively accepted it in its proposed draft plan of June 1. However, it added, “…even if the State Board declines to merge the governance structure of these districts, nothing precludes the Board from redrawing SU boundaries in a way that causes on or more of them to become a member of a different SU.”
One possibility was moving Hartland north into the Hartford SU, and Mount Ascutney and Weathersfield south into the Springfield SU, effectively destroying the WSESU. Although this was not an explicit proposal of the state board, the language generated enough concern that the Mount Ascutney board passed a resolution in October calling on the state board to not do this.
Other members districts have apparently not joined in that resolution, according to Mount Ascutney district chair Elizabeth Burrows. WSESU superintendent David Baker supports it, however.
Baker, for his parts, doubts any surprises will occur on Thursday.
“I would be shocked if the state board did anything but reaffirm their original decision,” he said. “But you never know.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.