By BILL CHAISSON
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SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — At their April 24 meeting, before the public information session the next night, pondered how to get accurate information out to the public in advance of the April 30 vote on the revised school budget. They also discussed how to arrange an early release schedule that stayed within the bounds of the teacher’s contract and did not cause an uptick in students skipping school.
Board chair Ed Canon asked Superintendent of Schools Zach Laughlin how the “budget marketing process” was going. McLaughlin said that postcards had gone out and that there was a link on them to the district website, where more information on the budget could be found. The school board members had also written several letters to the editor to area newspapers. McLaughlin was preparing for an appearance at the Springfield Rotary Club.
“We’re also trying to identify information out there that isn’t correct,” McLaughlin said. “We correct it on our Facebook page without embarrassing anyone.” He has had to counter claims that the district as 70 to 75 people employed as coaches and that its spends $23,000 per pupil. (The real numbers are both much smaller. McLaughlin noted that many coaches receive small stipends of about couple thousand dollars or are volunteers.)
“A lot of people are trying to figure out the budget by themselves,” said board member Jeanice Garfield, “instead of coming to us to get it clarified. It is so discouraging because how hard we’ve worked, and they’re waiting to the last month or this week to bring up incorrect information.”
Deacon Watson, the student representative to the board, asked if it was permissible to encourage students who were 18 years old to go to the polls and vote on the budget. He estimated that there were about 30 student eligible to vote. Garfield told him that it was allowable and that they would be able to register right at the polling place.
Early release
Students are let out of school early eight times per school year so that teachers can sit down for professional training sessions. McLaughlin said that the sessions were especially important with new math and new literacy programs being introduced next year.
Building the training into the normal hours of the school day, the superintendent said, helps out the teachers who would otherwise have to make special childcare arrangements.
Steve Karaffa, a board member but also a teacher, noted that in the present schedule all the early release dates were on Fridays. He was concerned that this would cause a significant number of students — particularly high school students — to skip the entire day and give themselves a three-day weekend. Karaffa he that before the schedule was set for next year he wanted some accountability regarding the effects on attendance of having early release on Fridays.
“Right now the administrative team is split about this,” McLaughlin said, “so if the board wants to move the schedule back to Wednesdays that would probably be fine.’
Board member Troy Palmer asked about the rationale for taking half days instead of whole days and then adding the missed days to end of the year. McLaughlin explained that the teachers’ contract was for a certain number of days of instruction. Furthermore, half days count toward the number of days of instruction that the state of Vermont requires.
“I would think the value of full day workshops would be more than several half days,” said Garfield.
“I would agree,” said Assistant Superintendent David Cohn.
“We want to get a bigger bang for our buck,” said Garfield.
McLaughlin said it could not be managed. “If something is universally available,” he said, “you can’t do it outside the contractual time.”
“The flipside is that you lose four instructional days with the kids,” said Palmer.
“That’s true,” McLaughlin conceded. “It’s a balance.”
McLaughlin asked Watson for the student perspective on early release. “Karaffa’s got the right idea about students playing hooky,” Watson said.
McLaughlin agreed to look at attendance records to see if there were significant declines in attendance on early release days or immediately after them, if they were scheduled on Wednesdays, which had formerly been the case.
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