As we approach this year’s Town and School Meetings, things will be very different, especially for those used to attending in-person meetings for voting, or informational discussion. This year, all meetings will be virtual. Conversations that happen quite literally at a distance also tend to feel more remote. Of course, the budgetary amounts represent real dollars, and the names on the ballots represent real people. The issues are also real.
One of the names on the ballot is Chris Kramer, who is seeking to be the Cornwall member on the ACSD board. (All district towns vote for this position.) The other person running for this seat is Peter Conlon. Peter has an advantage, purely through name recognition. He was on the Cornwall School Board, the Steering Committee to form the ACSD five years ago, and has subsequently continued on the board. He is also a state representative. When he began in his school-related roles, his children were probably as young as Chris Kramer’s are today.
Indeed, the vast majority of people sitting on the ACSD board no longer have children in school, or especially in elementary school. It’s important to have diverse board membership, but the people with the most direct interest in the actual educational experience offered are bound to be people whose children are young, whose children will be in our schools for the next many years. They have a significant reason to be invested.
Chris is highly intelligent and would bring to the board a push for transparency and open discussion as they continue to tackle the many difficult challenges that lie before them. He has strong, creative vision. He is not reluctant to share ideas and opinions, but is equally willing to listen and to find compromise.
Some may say, “Why make changes on the board when things are so complex?” It is this very complexity which calls for bringing in new voices and new vision. Chris Kramer has a positive energy that could prove invaluable. Give him your vote March 2.
Laurie Cox
Ripton