VERGENNES — The newly elected Addison Northwest Unified Union School District (ANWSD) board will officially form on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Vergennes Union High School library.
Vermont Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe will open the meeting and run the agenda, according to now Addison Northwest Supervisory Union (ANwSU) Superintendent JoAn Canning, whose title will change slightly after Monday.
Canning, the soon-to-be ANWSD superintendent, said Monday’s meeting will not deal with policy, nor will the board even elect officers. Rather, it will establish the board as a legal entity that can begin work toward the transition that will become effective on July 1, 2017.
In the meantime, the existing three ANwSU elementary school boards, the Vergennes Union High School board, and the ANwSU board will operate the schools and work with the ANWSD board toward its 2017 takeover.
“In likelihood it will be a very quick meeting, 20 or 30 minutes maybe,” Canning said. “This is not a board meeting. This is an organizational meeting.”
On the agenda will be such housekeeping items as Holcombe certifying the elected and appointed candidates as board members; electing a moderator, clerk and treasurer; setting board pay; establishing an annual meeting date; and choosing the appropriate set of Roberts’ Rules of Order.
The members of the ANWSD board are George Lawrence and Laurie Childers from Addison; Laurie Gutowski, George Gardner, Kristina MacKulin and Finn Yarborough from Ferrisburgh; Diana Raphael from Panton; Sue Rakowski, John Stroup, Chris Cousineau and Mark Koenig from Vergennes; and Tom Borchert from Waltham.
All except Raphael were elected on Town Meeting Day, when one-board operation of ANwSU passed by wide margins in each union community. The Panton selectboard appointed Raphael to the board later in March.
The meeting will be followed by a reception.
“We’re going to have a community reception in celebration of our new school district,” Canning said. “That will be the kickoff to some great things going on around here.”