ACSD towns can vote on closures

Voters in all seven Addison Central School District towns will now collectively have a say in any future proposals to close an ACSD school.

Some Addison Central School District board members said they hoped Monday’s charter change imposing the extra hurdle of a districtwide vote for school closures had finally settled a local-control issue that’s been debated for at least four years.

Monday evening, February 13th, the Addison Central School Board will discuss and likely vote on three options for school closure determination.

Over the last few years, many of us have strived to provide the students of the Addison Central School District (ACSD) with a strong education.

The Addison Central School District Board won’t warn a petitioned referendum seeking feedback on two separate options to amend the ACSD charter in a way that would allow a bigger public role in closing local schools.

Either of two proposed changes to the Addison Central School District charter would make the district more responsive to voters — a move the board and the public should appreciate.

How connected do you feel with your local school board? Do you know their names? When their meetings are held? What they’ll be voting on next?

A handful of Addison County towns worked tirelessly this year to keep or gain control of their local elementary schools in an effort to ensure they’d stay open amid declining enrollment and rising education costs.

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.

Some of the next steps for the LSD include staffing a central office, creating an FY24 budget for Lincoln residents to vote on next year, and finding additional funds to cover transition costs as the district works to get up and running.

Perhaps an even bigger surprise came at the beginning of the Nov. 16 Board of Education meeting when the panel accepted Oliver Olsen’s resignation.

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

The Addison Central School Board has again deferred a decision on whether Middlebury-area residents should be able to vote on the potential future closure of any district schools.

The Vermont State Board of Education has determined the best way for Lincoln to provide students with supervisory union services like special education and transportation is to do so on its own. 

I think it’s important to consider the perspective of someone who values the entirety of ACSD as much as citizens behind the Save Our Schools movement love their individual towns.