Letter to the editor: Local control is best for Starksboro school

Starksboro’s unanimous decision was based on what is seen as best for Starksboro’s children, including those with special needs. I am moved by the unity of the town on this issue.

It is disheartening to witness the push for consolidation of schools just as the larger schools are struggling with behavioral issues and teacher retention.

To say that Wendy Harlin has embraced her adoptive town would be an understatement. She recently joined the Ripton School District board and is now hoping to represent the town — along with four other nearby communities — in Montpelier, as a member of the … (read more)

Starksboro’s effort to retain control over the future of Robinson Elementary School is set to culminate on Aug. 9, when voters in the other towns of the Mount Abraham Unified School District will vote on whether to ratify Starksboro’s vote to withdraw fro … (read more)

Gov. Phil Scott signed bill H.727 into law on June 7, forcing a handful of Addison County towns to navigate slight changes to the process of withdrawing from their existing school district.

Very preliminary budget modeling by the Ripton School District board indicates the town might be able to run its own K-12 public education system for an education property tax rate of $2.06 per $100 in property value during the 2023-2024 academic year — t … (read more)

Starksboro voters recently dealt a lethal, if not fatal, blow to the aspirations of a regional merger study committee to impose a full governance merger of the Mt. Abe and Addison Northwest school districts.

New draft articles of agreement would serve as the founding document for a proposed merger between the school districts in the northern half of Addison County.

More than 200 registered voters turned out at the Robinson Elementary School multipurpose room to vote from the floor on a proposal to exit the Mount Abe school district, and the overwhelming majority said “yes” when the question was finally asked.

In just a couple of weeks, Starksboro voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on the future of Robinson Elementary School.

“We still have a lot of work to do on our journey here,” said James Warnock, who along with SCS colleague Paul Forlenza helped represent Lincoln’s interests before the VSBE on Wednesday.

The ANWSD-MAUSD Merger Study Committee gave preliminary approval to an article of agreement that would allow a future merged district to close elementary schools if certain academic and financial conditions are met.

Supporters of efforts by Lincoln and Starksboro to withdraw from the Mount Abraham Unified School District are casting wary eyes on a bill in the Legislature that would substantially change the rules governing towns’ exits from school district.

In the political tussle pitting small schools against districts that want to close them, a newly devised bill, H.727, intentionally works against the effort to preserve Vermont’s smaller schools — even when those communities overwhelmingly vote to support … (read more)

All elementary students in MAUSD benefit from the sharing of ideas and expertise among schools. The loss of any one school is a loss to the whole district.