MAUSD towns to vote on Lincoln exit plan

After a six-month wait, the Lincoln voters who overwhelmingly approved a proposal to withdraw from the Mount Abraham Unified School District are approaching the next hurdle in the process: ratification by the other four MAUSD towns.

As parents of young children we are concerned about school consolidations, not just whether they should happen but how they will happen.

In the March 1 election, we should all support Jamie McCallum and Joanna Doria in the race for Addison Central School Board.

Defining a community: Is it a town or a school district? When is a small elementary school too small?

Please understand. Small towns do not want to withdraw from unified school districts. But under threat of closure, they currently have no other choice if they want to keep their schools open.

With Vermont schools stressed by COVID, you might expect pandemic recovery to be the only issue on the minds of those working in education.

As Lincoln withdraws from Mount Abraham Unified School District (MAUSD), there is misinformation that is circulating in the community.

In my opinion, Act 46 was intended specifically to bring about the closing of small towns’ schools in Vermont, despite what the text of the law itself states.

A trio of local community school advocates testifying before the House Education Committee last week expressed grave concerns about some of the Act 46 updates recently proposed by the Vermont State Board of Education.

In a commentary last week that rebutted our editorial, State Board of Education Chair Oliver Olsen took us to task for suggesting the SBE had more leeway to rule on Ripton’s behalf and he denied the SBE was “targeting small schools for consolidation.”

For many of us living in the small towns of Addison County, the locus of community is without a doubt our elementary schools.

Unable to obtain school services elsewhere, Ripton administrators are considering rejoining the district. And now, state officials and lawmakers are trying to make sure another departure like Ripton’s doesn’t happen again.

Unfortunately, Mr. Lynn’s editorial in the same edition missed the mark with an opinion that was based on a flawed understanding of Vermont education law and the powers of the State Board of Education.

The impact of Lincoln withdrawing from the Mt. Abe district and our high school can be significant.

We know that many people have questions about the ANWSD/MAUSD Merger Study Committee. As non-school board committee members of the study committee, it has taken us some time to get up to speed on the issues and language of the work.