This Town Meeting Day, I will be bringing to the polls my hopes and dreams for my daughter’s future. Now 8 years old, these next 10 years will set her on the course for adulthood, with an Addison Central School District public education as the foundation for her success.

I will also be bringing my commitment to a bright future for Vermont — with vibrant communities, thriving businesses, healthy families, and a strong economy.

These two visions are not mutually exclusive, but they do require bold leadership.

For this reason, I am supporting Jess Venable-Novak and Ron Makleff for the ACSD School Board. As parents, educators, and volunteers, they understand from personal experience the challenges that both ACSD and working families face.

They are also the candidates best positioned to address the multiple crises facing public education in Vermont. There’s a funding crisis, where every year the cost of education rises, but communities aren’t able to absorb the increases. There’s a political crisis, with Gov. Scott attempting to make sweeping changes that would remove decision-making from local school boards, yet without clear cost savings or improvements to student outcomes. And there’s a social crisis, where an increasing number of students are experiencing the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the supports we put in place to care for them are disappearing by the day.

We need bold, fresh, leadership on the ACSD school board, and Jess and Ron are better suited to bring this new perspective than their incumbent opponents.

As a member of the 2023 ACSD Strategic Plan Action Team, Jess has demonstrated the ability to work toward necessary change while considering the multiple sides of an issue. This is the kind of leadership we need.

As a teacher of multiple grades and in multiple communities, Ron understands the power of schools as institutions “by and for” the people they are intended to serve. This is the right approach.

We clearly need new voices on the ACSD Board to help students, families, and communities effectively confront an uncertain future, and to work collaboratively with Superintendent Wendy Baker to make the most responsible decisions for all.

Many of today’s challenges can feel overwhelming and beyond our influence, but this is actually one we can make right with the right people in place. Please join me in supporting Jess Venable-Novak and Ron Makleff when we head to the polls next week.

Roxanne Vought

Weybridge