Probably the best reform now would be for the Legislature to establish universal parental choice with state-issued portable tuition scholarships, and let the merged districts and independent schools compete to attract pupils and revenue.
Residents of the Orange County towns of Bradford and Newbury are suffering school tax sticker shock because taxes for the newly-created Oxbow United Union School District are much higher than what they had been led to expect.
In the fourth episode of “Travels With Charlie – Vermont Politics in Real Life,” host Charlie Papillo talks Act 46 with Republican state Sen. Corey Parent and David Kelley, an attorney representing school districts jointly appealing the State Board of Education’s merger decisions.
There are a few remaining battles against forced school mergers across the state, even as the July 1 deadline quickly approaches just weeks away. One such community fighting back is the Windham district.
Five communities — Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, Townshend and Windham — will vote by Australian ballot on June 11 whether Windham Elementary School District should fully join the West River district.
More than once, a speaker noted that participation in the meeting “is in no way intended as an affirmation of the legality of the State Board of Education’s Report and Order on statewide school merger decisions” issued on Nov. 30, 2018.
A school board member frustrated with Act 46 stood at the Berlin Town Meeting on Tuesday to deplore the unwelcome outcomes and suggest possible fixes concerning the controversial school merger law.
After narrowly voting down the “Scheuermann Amendment” that would have given all schools facing mergers a one-year extension to comply with Act 46, House lawmakers on Thursday voted to allow some schools to get the extension.
The Vermont House of Representatives on Wednesday voted down a proposed amendment that would have allowed a one-year extension for forced school district mergers under Act 46.
Given the uncertainty around a merger of local school districts, articles for annual town meetings are being warned with an eye toward what could play out in the courts.
A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Heidi Scheuermann, R-Stowe, presented two bills this afternoon that would act as a moratorium on enforcement of Act 46 regarding forced school mergers.