WESTMINSTER, Vt. — On Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m., Alliance of Vermont School Board Members’ attorney David Kelley of Craftsbury Common will be addressing a joint meeting of the school boards that comprise the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union. Kelley will be discussing the legal next-steps for schools and communities facing arbitrary forced mergers as the result of recent actions taken by the Vermont State Board of Education based on their interpretation of Act 46, the school consolidation legislation. This will be an opportunity for other school boards in the region, as well as concerned citizens, to find out how to support the schools in their communities as they struggle to maintain their independence.
Recently, on Thursday, Nov. 15, the WNESU school boards slated for forced merger, Athens, Grafton, and Westminster, were invited to resubmit evidence from their Alternative Governance Structure proposal to the State Board of Education during their meeting that day in Barre, and a similar invitation was also extended to the Elmore-Morrisville Unified Union Schools which the State Board of Education had previously announced its intention to force-merge with the Stowe School District. On Nov. 15 the state board reaffirmed its intent to force-merge Elmore-Morrisville and Stowe, and took no further action with regard to their proposed Athens-Grafton-Westminster forced merger.
In a subsequent Special Joint School Board meeting, also on Nov. 15, the School Boards of Athens, Grafton and Westminster reaffirmed their intent to join with more than 20 other school districts across the state which are committed to challenging the legality of these forced mergers in the courts. They will be joined on Nov. 28 by the school board of the Town of Rockingham and also that of Bellows Falls Union High School, which together comprise the five districts of the Windham Northeast supervisory Union.
Bellows Falls Union High School is located at 406 High School Drive, just off Route 5 in the Town of Westminster, about one mile South of the Village of Bellows Falls, and about an hour and a half South of Montpelier.
From points north, take Interstate 89 south to Interstate 91 in White River Junction and continue south on Interstate 91 to Exit 6, Rockingham / Bellows Falls, continuing south on U.S. Rte. 5 approximately three miles to Bellows Falls, continuing through Bellows Falls Village, about one mile to High School Drive, which is well signed.
From the south, take Interstate 91 north to Exit 5, Westminster, and continue north on Rte. 5 approximately 1.5 miles to High School Drive.
For more information, please visit the Alliance’s elf Vermont School Board Members website at AVSBM.org
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