Letter to the editor: Some college workers not sold on reopening plan

As current and former local residents and employees of Middlebury College with deep concern about the health of our community, we listened carefully to the presentation by college officials to the selectboard about plans to reopen the campus. We’ve concluded that although these plans were the result of serious work by many individuals, they do not offer sufficient assurance that the college can safely reopen next month without risking a COVID-19 outbreak in Addison County. The announced plans have several t … (read more)

VERGENNES — The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes has announced that the club will reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and will be open Monday-Friday from 2:30 to 6 p.m. daily. An open house with music, games and social distancing and safety protocols in p … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College President Laurie Patton is so confident in the work the college has done to prepare the campus for a safe reopening this fall that she is planning to step into the classroom herself and teach an in-person course. “We believ … (read more)

District leaders began releasing plans last week for bringing students back this fall. But their proposals for reopening the state’s preK-12 schools diverge in significant ways, and some fear Vermont’s uncoordinated approach will require officials to go b … (read more)

BRISTOL — Mount Abraham Union School District released its plans for the fall reopening yesterday: Read them here.

MIDDLEBURY — The ACSD released its plans for the fall reopening yesterday: See them here.

ORWELL — The Slate Valley Unified Union School District (SVUUSD) on Tuesday announced students would return to Orwell Village School this fall.  It is part of a school re-entry plan in which students in kindergarten through 8th grade will attend classes o … (read more)

I don’t know who needs to hear this. Apparently, our leaders will not. How do you justify opening the college or schools when you are holding all of the planning meetings virtually? Does it make sense to anyone that our local government is not open for bu … (read more)

VERGENNES — The volunteers who make up the Friends of the Vergennes Opera House organization — and, in fact, operate the theater — spent late winter and spring learning about how to deal with a pandemic and planning and considering when to re-open the lin … (read more)

This week’s writer is Brian R. Carpenter, chair of the Middlebury selectboard. At the Middlebury selectboard meeting on July 28, at 7 p.m., representatives from the administration of Middlebury College, including Health Service Director Dr. Mark Peluso an … (read more)

Middlebury College’s plan to reopen in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic this fall depends on sensible, responsible behavior on the part of two thousand students, many of them still teenagers. I was a teenager at Middlebury College many years ag … (read more)

I was a bit surprised to see the criticism about Middlebury College’s plans to reopen from Gregory Dennis in the July 2 paper. When my wife and I bought our house in Cornwall 20 years ago we knew that the college was an important part of the community, bu … (read more)

Bringing 2,000 new and returning college students to Middlebury in September is a risk we cannot afford. Since the pandemic began, we have all hoped that the next season or the next big holiday would bring a return to longed-for “normal.” But each rushed … (read more)

With news a couple of weeks ago that Middlebury College would be opening this fall with students on campus, even with ample precautions implemented, it is to be expected that local reactions would be mixed.  The business community was largely in favor acu … (read more)

Residents of Addison County have amply demonstrated that our highest priority during the pandemic has been the safety and health of our community. Everyone has sacrificed, and these cooperative efforts have resulted in enviable COVID-19 case trends that h … (read more)