Letter to the editor: Starksboro info was misleading

Superintendent Reen continues to mislead and scare MAUSD voters.

The sky will not fall if Starksboro’s vote to leave the MAUSD District is affirmed on 8/9

Residents in Bristol, Monkton and New Haven on Aug. 9 will vote on whether Starksboro will be allowed to withdraw from the Mount Abraham Unified School District.

There are many reasons to take Superintendent Patrick Reen’s statements with more than a grain of salt.

As a result of steadily declining enrollment and increasing costs, we have reached a tipping point where it is becoming unsustainable to operate our schools as we do now.

I am writing on behalf of the Starksboro Save Our Schools Committee to ask you to vote yes on Aug. 9, to ratify Starksboro’s withdrawal from MAUSD.

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.