CALAIS – The future of the Calais School remains uncertain after last month’s vote by the Washington Central Unified Union School District (WCUUSD) not to place a measure to close two schools on the November ballot.
Calais Elementary School got a reprieve in the recent vote, remaining open for now.
The vote effectively rejected a new configuration model developed by the Leadership Team over two years. The new model would close the Calais Elementary and Doty Memorial schools, moving all sixth graders to the U-32 middle school.
Enrollment at Calais Elementary School is currently 94 students, which is considered to be only 70% of the low optimal number the school can support. At the high end, the school could optimally educate 186 students.
WCAX reported Board Chair Flor Diaz Smith to have said the plan, “would fulfill the criteria laid out to best serve the students in the area.”
This week Diaz Smith said the board would begin planning for the next steps, which includes working with the leadership team to decide what to do next and developing a budget for 2025. She said part of that work will likely include asking the finance committee, through its configuration Committee, to look at cost-cutting options.
Diaz Smith suggested the important work will involve answering the question, “How do we implement a vision to achieve our core values and goals?”
“According to the district’s articles of agreement, its charter, closing a school outright requires a vote in each affected town. But reconfiguring grades can be done through board action alone, and WCUUSD Superintendent Steven Dellinger-Pate confirmed after the meeting that such a proposal was likely to emerge during the budgeting process for the upcoming school year,” reported Vermont Public.
“Allen Gilbert, a former longtime Worcester school board member, urged the board to merge with Montpelier instead and bring the capital city’s high schoolers to U-32,” reported Vermont Public. “That’s the only reconfiguration that can provide long-term budget stability. Don’t waste time closing schools that serve their communities well,” he said.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
