To the editor:
One of the three maps being developed by Vermont’s Act 73 Redistricting Committee is based around Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers and it poses serious risks to our local schools.
In the latest draft of the CTE-based proposal, the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU) has been placed in a supervisory district with Morrisville, Stowe, and surrounding towns. This change would eliminate our local school boards and dissolve our existing articles of agreement. Decisions about small community schools such as Woodbury, Lakeview, Wolcott and Craftsbury could be made without a local vote or even local representation with meaningful voting power on a regional district board.
This governance shift could also jeopardize Hazen Union and Hardwick Elementary. In a larger, more centralized district, smaller towns like ours would likely have minority representation and limited ability to protect our schools, programs, or have much say in our budgets, services, and community values.
It’s essential that residents make their voices heard now. Please write to the redistricting committee to express your support for keeping OSSU in a supervisory union model, not a district. The supervisory union structure allows our communities to retain local school boards, protect small schools, and ensure decisions remain accountable to local voters.
If you live or work in the Hazen or Mountain View districts, please also urge your local school boards to submit formal public comment to the Redistricting Committee as soon as possible. Neither board has yet taken a formal stance, and their input will be crucial in preserving community-based school governance.
Laura Cannon
Hardwick
802-310-9604
