MAUSD stories: Rural Vermont learning in the midst of COVID-19

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance with the commitments made by the CEC for the project. On Sunday, March 15, Gov. Phil Scott ordered all Vermont schools closed as of Wednesday, March 18, until at least April 6. Scott’s directive tasked all local school districts with planning to continue t … (read more)

At this stage of the pandemic-induced financial crisis we are about to face, it’s difficult to imagine how severe the upcoming recession will be. Preliminary numbers in Vermont suggest we may have reached a record 30 percent unemployment — a truly stagger … (read more)

As many of us are painfully and often personally aware, the cost of healthcare premium increases has been in the double digits over the past several years and there is no end in sight. What many Vermonters might not realize is the impact these increases h … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — During the past few weeks Middlebury Union High School hasn’t been serving up as much nourishment for the mind as it typically does; the coronavirus has temporarily put a stop to that. But the MUHS kitchen continues to serve up nourishment fo … (read more)

VERMONT — Governor Phil Scott today directed schools to remain dismissed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Districts will close schools for in-person instruction and be required to implement continuity of learning plans for remote learning. Th … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — The Addison Central School District has had to modify its school breakfast/lunch delivery program based on new guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture, which helps underwrite the program. Here’s a message that was sent out … (read more)

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) is now accepting applications for the Farm to School Infrastructure Grant program. This grant program helps schools and early care providers advance the goals of farm to school thro … (read more)

UPDATED: Addison Central School District officials late Monday announed that the Middlebury-area schools would close to students on Tuesday, a day earlier than previously planned. ADDISON COUNTY — During a Friday evening press conference Gov. Phil Scott s … (read more)

ADDISON COUNTY — Local school officials are closely monitoring the arrival of the coronavirus in Vermont. None have plans to close schools at this point, but all say they will follow state guidelines that could result in school closures down the line. It … (read more)

Editor’s note: This story involves juvenile court cases, the details of which are sealed by the courts. The parents of victims in the case have agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity for themselves and their children. The juvenile victims in this c … (read more)

For anyone who missed Angelo Lynn’s editorial in the Nov. 21 issue of this newspaper I am urging everyone to go back and read it. Read it again. What it says may be the most important idea for citizens in Vermont to think about now. It seems quite common … (read more)

The lesson to be learned from the upcoming votes within the Addison Northwest School District to close the elementary schools in Addison and Ferrisburgh is plain: When a district school board moves too fast toward consolidating town schools, the blowback … (read more)

The ACSD School Board seems to be moving quickly in the direction of closing town schools. I strongly urge everyone from all towns to pay attention and become involved. Below is an edited version of the letter I wrote to our school board when they solicit … (read more)

On a local level, the issue of our times is how our newly formed school districts navigate through an era in which declining student numbers and rising costs make it difficult for small schools to operate economically, while also balancing the strengths t … (read more)

In the third of our summer series of discussion points, we’ll launch a one-time discussion into Act 46, the bill passed three years ago that mandated a consolidation of school governance with the expectations that school districts facing declining student … (read more)