Lawmakers work to reconcile education reform

This year’s landmark education reform bill, H.454, has been passed by the Vermont House and Senate, and this week the two bodies are looking to reconcile difference between the two versions they each OK’d.

The Mount Abraham Unified School District and its teachers’ union have settled on a new contract for professional staff that includes salary increases of 9%, 6.25%, 5.50% over the next three years.

Several Addison County early childhood educators graduated from The Snelling Center for Government in Early Childhood Leadership Institute on April 25 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee.

Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth’s decision Tuesday night to pull the school reform bill, H.454, from a scheduled Wednesday floor vote speaks volumes about a bill that is largely seen as a lose-lose proposition for schools, students and parents, w … (read more)

There’s been plenty of (deserved) attention paid to the education reform proposed this legislative season in our brave, little state. While many are focused on cutting costs, I have heard few asking the right questions or focusing on the right problem.

My head is spinning trying to keep up with all the permutations of Vermont H.454. It’s goal seems clear enough as stated by Governor Scott at the start of his current term. We need to get a grip on our steadily rising property taxes.

The halls of Vergennes Union High/Middle School were humming on May 9, when the school’s 8th-, 7th- and 6th-graders presented their finished year-end research or service projects to family and community members.

Middlebury College faculty are urging administrators to divest from the institution’s graduate school in Monterey, Calif., in the wake of recently-announced compensation cuts and other steps aimed at filling a projected $14.1 million deficit for this fisc … (read more)

Many of the roughly two-dozen Ripton children who’ll be attending Salisbury Community School this fall will see a familiar face in the principal’s office.

Negotiations in Montpelier are nearing completion on changes that likely would set a statewide per-pupil spending limit, consolidate school districts and reduce the number of schools.

A new partnership between the town of Bristol and the local school district’s Expanded Learning Program aims to promote a sense of belonging and civic engagement among local youth.

Many people have questions about how the proposed changes to Vermont’s K-12 school system being debated by the Legislature might impact their kids, school, community, or property taxes. To learn more, join Senator Ruth Hardy for a K-12 Education Community … (read more)

The Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Expanded Learning Program is growing.

We didn’t return just for the hiking trails, skiing or postcard views — though those were part of the attraction. We came back because Vermont offered something we hadn’t found elsewhere: a culture of care.

Principal Rae Donovan said she loved her time at Ferrisburgh Central School, but did not give a reason for her departure. The next principal is a familiar face.