NORTHEAST KINGDOM – As educators and legislators begin to digest details of the governor’s education plan released by Vermont Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders last week, a Rural School Community Alliance (RSCA) is being formed to help protect the most vulnerable small schools. At the other end of the rural size spectrum, Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU) Superintendent of Schools David Baker is trying to make sense of Gov. Scott’s proposal to consolidate 119 school districts into just five regional school districts.
diagram courtesy Vermont Agency of Education
OSSU would be consolidated into the proposed Winooski Valley Region. “It is a large district but certainly no larger than Chittenden County,” said Baker. State maps of proposed redistricting show OSSU’s new district is less than half the size of the new Champlain Valley District.
“Needless to say, I think this would be very difficult to manage,” said Baker. “Maybe the governor proposed five districts thinking they’ll settle on 12 or so,” he said, adding, “this is not a new proposal but has much more support than I’ve ever seen in the past.”
Towns with small schools and their administrations have indicated concern about what the proposed redistricting means for them.
“Governor Phil Scott’s education proposal disregards Vermont’s unique history and geography, dismantling a system that has evolved over 200 years in favor of a top down, bureaucratic centralized model. His plan treats Vermont’s education system as if it’s nothing more than spare parts that should be eliminated. We strongly disagree,” says a February 3 RSCA press release. The press release continued, “rural community schools are the backbone of our towns, providing high-quality education while fostering deep community connections. In response to the Governor’s plan, local school boards and town leaders across the state are uniting under the RSCA, a coalition dedicated to preserving and strengthening our public schools.
“Escalating property taxes need to be addressed. This goal can be accomplished through reasonable means that tackle cost drivers and recognize Vermont’s values; equity and democratic engagement. Stability and recovery should guide us forward. School systems have
been rocked by a global pandemic and a plethora of new laws from Act 46 to weighting that have not been evaluated or fully implemented.”
School districts, supervisory unions and towns across Vermont have voted to join RSCA. In our area they include the Craftsbury and Cabot School Districts, North Country and Orleans Central Supervisory Unions and the Town of Greensboro Select Board.
“The time to defend Vermont’s rural public schools is now,” said the RSCA press release. “We invite school boards, community members and local leaders to join us in standing up for our children, schools and communities.” For more information, visit vtruraledu.org or email vtschoolsrock@gmail.com.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
