CRAFTSBURY – Nearly 200 Craftsbury residents gathered at 9 a.m. in Craftsbury Academy’s World War II Memorial Gymnasium, a healthy number that nearly filled the rows of folding chairs arranged across the gym floor, Tuesday, March 4. In addition to voters, a good number of children filled the gym, with high school students selling baked goods, elementary and middle school microphone runners and curious tag-alongs of various ages sitting with their parents and friends. Childcare was also provided in the nearby Craftsbury Public Library for the youngest residents, coordinated by Craftsbury’s Freedom and Unity Committee.
photo by Polly Allen
After electing Moderator Jeannine Young, town meeting kicked off with a dedication of the town report to Harry H. Miller, 20-year school board member, town lister, justice of the peace, president of the Village Improvement Society and general steward of community service and good cheer in Craftsbury.
For the first time this year, Article 1, The Election of Town Officers, was done by Australian Ballot, with polls in the gym open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Familiar faces filled the positions, with incumbent select board member Bruce Urie elected to a new three-year term, also re-upping on the cemetery commission for another three years. Lister Jeremiah McCann was elected for another three-year term, Auditor Cheryl Bailey for another three-year term; Jen Linck as public library trustee for a four-year term; Penelope Doherty as supervisor for the Lamoille Solid Waste District for another 2 years; Town Clerk and Treasurer Michelle Warren was reelected for a term of three years and elected for another term as trustee of public funds along with Carolyn Ryan, renewing her term in this position. Ross Davis was elected to a new term as World War II memorial trustee.
photo by Polly Allen
The remaining articles were read on the floor, all passing with wide margins and near unanimous voter support. The town operating budget of $1,070,301, of which $752,930 will be raised from taxes and the remainder from other non-tax revenues passed. Voters authorized the purchase of a new town truck and a $70,000 appropriation to the Craftsbury Fire Department, along with an additional $10,000 for fire volunteer stipends.
The town road crew was praised for their hard work this winter with its copious snow and the crew down in staff but keeping the roads safe and clear. Craftsbury’s fire volunteers were recognized for their dedication, with voter Emily Sorenson noting that volunteers were ready, trained and willing to assist the town at all hours, all days.
While the major articles drew uniform support, voters had some discussion around the adequacy of information provided to explain the expenditures. Vince O’Connell requested on several occasions that more information and context be provided to voters to support deeper civic engagement.
photo by Polly Allen
Voters approved a wide range of community appropriations in Articles 8 through 17, a sampling of which included support for the Craftsbury Block Party, cemeteries, the Conservation Fund, Craftsbury Saplings, Craftsbury Community Care Center, and Rural Arts. The Craftsbury Public Library received an appropriation of $49,000 and East Craftsbury’s Simpson Memorial Library $1,000. Support extended to the broader region, with a full slate of area nonprofits receiving appropriations, including AWARE, Green Mountain Farm to School, Old Stone House Museum, Pope Memorial Frontier Animal Shelter and Northeast Kingdom Human Services, among others.
While all of the entities requesting funds were approved by voters in wide margins, several voters questioned the rationale of bundling many of the regional appropriations in a single article, Article 13, making it difficult to approve in an “all or nothing” fashion. Moderator Jeannine Young confirmed that articles could be amended on the floor if necessary. Select board member Alison Blaney also noted that the Craftsbury Select Board was in the process of developing updated requirements for town meeting appropriations, sharing that, beginning next year any entity requesting funds would need to provide signatures from 5% of Craftsbury voters to support the request. If the appropriation figure requested remains the same year-over-year, no annual updates will be needed under this new system; however, if requests grow, a new petition will be needed. Warren noted that letters supporting the requests are on file in the town office for voters to review if they are interested in more detail on an organization’s mission and role.
Freshman Representative Leanne Harple stopped by the meeting and spoke to the community, with her address largely centering on her role on the House’s Education Committee. Given the magnitude of changes to education introduced in this legislative session, Harple shared that most of her attention has been in this area. She explained she is committed to making sure legislation realistically addresses the reality of rural communities like Craftsbury and its neighbors in her district. Harple anticipates she will be leading more community meetings and outreach around education as the Legislature reviews draft bills. Asked if she thought any decisions on the future of education would be finalized this Legislative session, Harple expressed doubt, saying there was so much in the draft legislation that it would be difficult to get it right this session.
With the conclusion of the town meeting portion of the day, many residents filed to the Academy cafeteria where the junior class served a lunch to support prom fundraising, with pasta, chowder, salad and desserts arrayed down a serving line of students. Earlier in the day, voters were treated to breakfast items by the freshman class, with students in the back of the gymnasium slinging banana bread, bagels, and coffee as voters filed in. Before town meeting, Craftsbury residents were also invited to a town meeting pancake breakfast by Sterling College, who brought this tradition back after a five year hiatus precipitated by the pandemic.
Following lunch, the day resumed with the Craftsbury School District Meeting. Two director roles were up for election, with incumbents Kasey Allen and Anna Schulz running unopposed for new two and three year terms, respectively. Voters approved the proposed budget of $5,983,711.01, an increase of 4.07 % in per pupil spending over last year, with 73 voting yes and 18 no. While the increase was far less than that of last year’s budget, a year of wide increase across the state, voters spent a substantive amount of time discussing some of the major cost drivers of this year’s budget.
Top of line on this front was the increase in Craftsbury’s assessment paid to Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU) as the town’s assessment rose 39% from last year, to a total of $1,548,580. As detailed by OSSU Director of Finance Annie Houston, several key items underlie the increase, including a revenue shortfall driven partially by the depletion of Covid-19 era federal funds, continued cost inflation and the continued centralization of key services to support districts. Craftsbury Board Chair Kasey Allen noted that while OSSU provides critical operational support for districts, Craftsbury’s three OSSU Board representatives had not supported the OSSU budget increase and had been keen on finding ways to lower costs for tax payers at the OSSU level while providing core services.
While much of the floor conversation centered around Craftsbury Academy and its budget line items, discussion soon turned to the major changes under consideration at the statehouse regarding public education. Both the school board and residents expressed concern over the ramifications and meaning of draft legislation, including what affect minimum class sizes, district consolidation and the specter of forced small school closure will have on Craftsbury Academy and Craftsbury as a whole. Several residents encouraged the community to stay engaged and informed and to contact their legislators to share thoughts. School board member Anna Schulz shared that the board will be seeking community engagement and input through meetings and forums as a clearer picture is developed. All speakers agreed that we are in a time of great transition and import in public education, with Annie Houston summarizing the reality succinctly when asked on the foreseeable future in education given all the changes proposed, stating “We don’t have a foreseeable future at this point.”
Within this cloudy state context, however, the school board noted positive trends for Craftsbury, with the school’s enrollment numbers stable and slightly growing, academic performance across all levels generally high in comparison to state and OSSU peers in the English language arts and math, and community partner engagement between the academy and surrounding community and region growing under the leadership of first-year Craftsbury Principal Lisa McCarthy and the academy’s teachers.
Craftsbury’s 2025 Town and School District Meeting concluded around 2 p.m., with residents folding chairs up to be tucked away for the next community gathering in the academy gym. As people streamed out the school’s doors, snow was falling, in keeping with the tone of the winter thus far. A plow truck swooshed by and the Academy’s billboard announced the upcoming winter arts showcase to be held in the gym, March 13. Craftsbury’s local governance course had been set for another year, to be picked up again in March next year.
