Letter to the editor: Students to lose extracurricular options in merger

Whether we’d save money if the merger happens is questionable at best. But there is certainly much we’d lose if it were to pass.

On Nov. 8, residents of Addison County will cast votes that determine how our young people, K-12, will move toward adulthood.

The next steps in the potential return of Addison’s former central school building to the town will almost certainly be a public forum followed by a town-wide vote on the question, according to Selectboard Chair Jeff Kauffman.

As some in the community may know, a bus to the Vergennes Elementary and Vergennes High School ran an hour late in both the morning and the afternoon during the week of Oct. 10. This was due to a severe bus driver shortage.

With twice the number of towns in a new district and diluted representation from each town, we should expect any hopes of local decisions and community engagement regarding our schools to diminish significantly. 

At its recent “Q & A” meetings in Bristol and Vergennes, the MAUSD-ANWSD Merger Study Committee claimed that the upcoming merger vote is “only” about merging governance.

Potential school closures and consolidations were among the concerns voiced by attendees of a merger study committee meeting held at Mount Abraham Union High School earlier this week.

There are better ways to improve education for all of our students and to prudently manage taxpayer dollars.

Despite the Starksboro Save our School committee’s publication of our analysis that the likely tax increase was closer to 3%, the damage had been done.

This merger will affect families in both districts and we deserve to better understand both the benefits and the costs of merging before we agree to this change. 

Voters should be deeply skeptical of any claims for financial benefits from the proposed merger.

The board ultimately voted in favor, 6-5, of adopting the resolution, with board chair Dawn Griswold supplying the tie-breaking vote. 

The Article of Agreements represent your community members working toward the following priorities.

If we are serious about equity — providing all children what they need to develop to their full academic potential — we need to defeat the proposed merger on Nov. 8.

Now, it is the community’s turn. Your voice is important.