ANWSD, teachers reach impasse

The Addison Northwest School District Board and the union representing teachers in the Vergennes-area schools have reached an impasse in their collective bargaining negotiations.

Addison County residents showed strong support for education on Tuesday, when all local school budgets passed, four out of five by large margins. 

Addison Northwest School District (ANWSD) residents on March 7 will decide the fate of a district budget proposal that calls for a roughly 13% spending increase of about $3 million to $25,312,768.

The Town Meeting Day ballot sees two candidates, Margaret Carrera-Bly and Chrystal Little, both seeking a term on the Addison Northwest School District Board.

The Addison Northwest School District (ANWSD) budget that voters will consider on Town Meeting Day calls for a 13.4% spending increase but property tax rate increases are expected to be a fraction of that.

The Addison Northwest School District Board and the Addison Northwest Support Staff Association last week reached an agreement on a new contract.

Chief among the reasons for the delay is that more time is needed for teachers and staff to prepare for a new educational model emphasizing multi-age, experiential and “socio-emotional” learning, district administrators told the ANWSD board. 

Despite their optimistic findings, the committee’s drafted articles of agreement sparked concerns from many community members, particularly regarding how potential school closures and consolidations would be handled in a merged district.

The Addison selectboard last week voted to buy back the town’s onetime elementary school from the Addison Northwest School District for $1.

Public schools across Addison County have been hit by the same worker shortage that has affected most other Vermont employers. All local school districts are having difficulty hiring support staff and substitute teachers.

While we may disagree on solutions, we acknowledge our school districts face many difficult problems that are not easy to fix. 

Beginning this Thursday, the Vergennes-area schools will host a series of public workshops on equity.

Voters in the nine towns making up the Addison Northwest and Mount Abraham Unified school districts on Tuesday voted 4,282-1,886 to oppose the merger of the two entities as a way to combat declining enrollment and rising overhead costs.

A General Election Day public survey of Addison residents could be crucial in determining the future of the town’s former central school building, which the Addison Northwest School District has offered back to the community. 

Merging with Mount Abe offers a pathway to new conversations and new opportunities to address our stubbornly chronic condition.