By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — As the state board of education prepares to issue its final plan for Act 46 consolidation of school districts and supervisory unions, a group of school boards subject to forced mergers under that plan met here Wednesday to discuss how to thwart its finality.
The school boards of Westminster, Grafton and Athens, that would be forced to merge together under the final plan, are reportedly considering becoming parties to a lawsuit or other legal action against the state once the plan is officially adopted. Westminster has formally voted to join a group of some 20 boards across the state who have stated a wish to challenge the state board’s forced merger plans.
On Wednesday night the three boards met at Bellows Falls Union High School as members of a regular meeting of the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union. Those boards, reportedly along with representatives of districts outside of the WNESU that also are considering litigation and were guests of the meeting, immediately adjourned themselves to executive session in order to meet with lawyers.
Upon returning to regular session at 7:35 p.m., Westminster school board chair David Major said his board wanted to “ratify the legal agreement” and the board promptly did so, unanimously. He did not state details of the legal agreement.
Major also read a personal statement on his view of being a school board member, saying that he felt he was not elected by voters to destroy the school board.
No other action was taken on the subject of future litigation or Act 46, and no discussion in open session took place of legal strategies that would be pursued.
The state board, meanwhile, held its own meeting Wednesday, and the WNESU meeting here was filled with rumors that the state board had finalized and issued its plan.
However, no such statement or action was published at the time on the Agency of Education’s website.
However, barring some dramatic unknown change, the board completed all its important decisions at its previous meeting Nov. 15 in Barre. Under the Act 46 statute, the board is required to file the final report no later than Friday.
The WNESU meeting moved on to regular business, including the proposed purchase of a new school bus to replace on in the fleet that required extensive repairs and would soon not be usable.
Superintendent Chris Pratt recommended the purchase of diesel-powered bus which was immediately available, as opposed to a propane-powered bus that would not be ready for 3-4 months.
Other board members asked SU staff to look into the possibility of leasing of a bus for a few months until the propane-powered bus could be ready, although it was not clear such a leasing option was available.
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