UPDATED WITH UNOFFICIAL BRISTOL NUMBERS:
BRISTOL — It’s looking like the school governance measure in the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union has passed.
With results in four of the five towns in the school district — New Haven, Lincoln, Starksboro and Monkton — the ballot item that will bring the district into compliance with Act 46 was squeaking by.
Results gathered by the Addison Independent as of 11:30 p.m. show that the votes in those towns were:
• New Haven: 668 yes-338 no
• Lincoln: 391 yes-357 no
• Starksboro: 430 yes-408 no
• Monkton: 785 yes-355 no
It was thought before Tuesday’s election that the Act 46 vote would be closest in Lincoln and Starksboro, and it was. Bristol — the fifth town in the ANeSU — has a much larger population than the other for ANeSU towns, but observers thought that it was likely to pass there, as well.
At a little past midnight, the Independent got unofficial results that said the Act 46 measure had passed in Bristol by a 2-to-1 margin, 1,106-500.
The unification proposal recommends ANeSU schools become one supervisory district, with one school board and one budget for all ANeSU schools.
Voters in the five towns also elected members of the unified school board, in case the unification article passed.
The future of school governance in the Bristol area was a hot topic of discussion, as the ANeSU Act 46 Study Committee this summer produced a unification plan that was accepted by the State Board of Education and three members of the committee produced a minority report that suggested a different path.