It was encouraging to hear board members at a recent meeting of the Mt. Abraham Unified School District express skepticism of the proposal to move 6th grade students to the Mt. Abe Middle School/High School. There are a variety of possible middle school configurations, from our current 7th and 8th grades, to a grades 5 to 8 approach, to Champlain Valley’s middle school program running at their elementary schools, and no consensus on which middle school configuration is best for kids. Meanwhile, community emotions are still raw from the protracted district effort to close elementary schools despite the deep concerns of the community. Moving 6th grade out of our elementary schools sure looks like a partial closing, again without the consent of parents and taxpayers.

Rather than wasting time on a divisive distraction, our district should focus on the longstanding needs and priorities of our students, as described in the district’s ENDS Monitoring Report of October 2023: first, the huge achievement gap between the general student population and lower income students, and second, the achievement cliff facing all students as they enter high school. It will take laser-focused leadership to successfully address these problems. 

Solving these problems will also require using our financial resources in the most cost-effective manner possible, not only to improve student outcomes, but also to offer some relief to beleaguered taxpayers. Fortunately, the district’s Levenson Report, issued in February 2021, offers a roadmap for significant cost savings of up to $2.3 million (2021 dollars); for example, using school-based, experienced educators as instructional coaches, looking critically at the functions of central office middle managers, sharing elementary school staff more effectively, and empowering facility leadership to address student needs within broad District parameters. 

The Levenson Report also points out that staff assigned to intervene with students who are under-achieving or exhibiting troublesome behavior can be expanded without increased spending. Finally, Levenson Report analysis implies that even without a merger with the Vergennes district, on which the voters have spoken, collaborative sharing of central office and educational resources can improve student learning and save upwards of $1.2 million in the Mt. Abe district alone. Perhaps some of these savings are more difficult, or less promising than described in the Levenson Report. But we won’t know until the school board is given the opportunity to weigh in. 

Please support the school board in its efforts to focus on the real priorities for improving student education, and to have a serious, in-depth examination at the board or committee level of the opportunities for savings identified in the Levenson Report. Contacting your town representatives now can make a difference, especially as next year’s budget is being prepared.

Herb Olson

Starksboro