RSSAuthor Archive for Shawn Cunningham

Side by Side: Scott education plans past and present

Side by Side: Scott education plans past and present

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the eight years that Gov. Phil Scott has been in office, his administration has produced two reports on reforming education in Vermont. These reports that are strikingly similar in conclusions, but very different in their origins. One was said to be the result of public input […]

High winds make for dangerous conditions; ski areas pause operations

High winds make for dangerous conditions; ski areas pause operations

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC UPDATE: 7 a.m. Wednesday Feb. 19 – Green Mountain Power is reporting no outages this morning. The wind forecast for this morning arrived pretty much on schedule and with it came the power outages. By 6 a.m. Monday, Green Mountain Power’s online outage map was showing 1,180 […]

It's GM 'Grizzlies' as students vote for new mascot

It’s GM ‘Grizzlies’ as students vote for new mascot

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC The polls have closed, the votes have been counted and the result is in. Green Mountain Union High School’s new mascot is the grizzly bear. GM Principal John Broadley told The Telegraph on Sunday that the 200 plus students who voted to chose from five candidates picked the […]

Chester board denies driveway appeal, gets presentation on sidewalk study

Chester board denies driveway appeal, gets presentation on sidewalk study

By Shawn Cunningham ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC By a 3-1 vote last Wednesday, the Chester Select Board voted to deny an appeal by the owner of a Main Street property for a curb cut to install a new driveway. But while the vote sounds resolute, some board members spoke of how conflicted they were over […]

Scott's ed plan gets pushback at Future of Ed Commission meeting

Scott’s ed plan gets pushback at Future of Ed Commission meeting

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Zoie Saunders has had some bumpy days since moving to Vermont from Florida to take over the state’s Agency of Education. And Monday will go down as yet another one. During meetings of the State Board of Education and the Commission on the Future of Public Education […]

Andover Select Board agenda for Feb.10

Andover Select Board agenda for Feb.10

The Andover Select Board will hold its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 10, 2025 at the Andover Town Office, 953 Weston-Andover Road Below is the board’s agenda 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. Act on Agenda. 3. Act on Minutes of January 27th meeting. 4. Public Comment (Time allowance: Five minutes per […]

Killarney's wings have won many prizes over the years

The Killarney to hold 20th anniversary celebration Wednesday

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC This Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, The Killarney — the Irish pub at the foot of Okemo Mountain in Ludlow — will celebrate 20 years of bringing award winning chicken wings (in addition to other comfort foods like shepherd’s pie) Irish music and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Pub […]

News Analysis: What's the future for the commission on the Future of Public Education?

News Analysis: What’s the future for the commission on the Future of Public Education?

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last Wednesday, the Scott administration unveiled its plan – at least a rough sketch of a plan – for fixing all the problems of Vermont’s education system with a 45 minute slideshow by Agency of Education Secretary Zoie Saunders. And, depending on who you’re listening to, it […]

Chester board to re-approve budget after spreadsheet glitch

Chester board to re-approve budget after spreadsheet glitch

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC A programming glitch in Chester government Excel spreadsheets detailing the proposed 2025-26 operating budget is forcing the Select Board to revote that proposed budget this morning. The new budget will be slightly higher — about $50,000 — than the one that the board earlier approved to send […]

9% jump in GM District school budget proposed; elementary school restructuring plans firmed up

9% jump in GM District school budget proposed; elementary school restructuring plans firmed up

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Monday night’s special meeting of the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District had just two agenda items. The main reason for the meeting was to review the 2025-26 budget proposal ahead of the board’s regular meeting on Thursday, since the board needs to approve a […]

With legislature under way, Gov. Scott sets tone and Education Commission seeks path forward

With legislature under way, Gov. Scott sets tone and Education Commission seeks path forward

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With its interim report submitted and the holidays in the rear view mirror, the commission tasked with looking at the future of Vermont’s education system was getting down to looking at the work ahead on Jan. 6. Then, Gov. Phil Scott and the Democratic majority leaders in […]

Police search Baltimore home where stolen truck was found; arrest owner

Police search Baltimore home where stolen truck was found; arrest owner Homeowner faces drug, stolen property charges

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC Officers from several area, state and federal departments searched a Baltimore home at around 2:30 today, Wednesday, Jan. 8, looking for tools missing from a truck stolen more than a week ago in Chester. In addition to recovering about two thirds of the tools, they found a […]

Chester board OKs rural zoning changes; talks 2025 budget, water meter upgrades

Chester board OKs rural zoning changes; talks 2025 budget, water meter upgrades

By Shawn Cunningham © 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC An amendment to Chester’s rural zoning regulations that’s been under consideration since July, with several hearings where it was criticized by residents and Select Board members alike, was finally adopted after  one of its most controversial proposals was dropped. The 4 to 1 vote approving the at […]

One select board meeting, 3 contentious issues and a glitch

One select board meeting, 3 contentious issues and a glitch

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Select Board had its hands full at its Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting as it again took on controversial changes to rural zoning but put off a vote, handed down a determination in a long-standing Class 4 roads dispute and learned that sometimes delaying a decision […]

GM board discusses budgets, bonds and mascots

GM board discusses budgets, bonds and mascots

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District Board continued last Thursday night discussing the 2025/26 budget with Superintendent Layne Millington and Business Manager Cheryl Hammond. The meeting was held in the Green Mountain High School Library. Millington outlined a number of actions that may be taken by the […]

Future of Ed panel wrestles over report to legislature

Future of Ed panel wrestles over report to legislature

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC We can only improve the lives of kids and taxpayers if we are all rowing in the same direction,” said Emilie Kornheiser, who chairs the Commission on the Future of Education’s finance subcommittee, at its Dec. 9 meeting. The topic was what form the upcoming report to […]

Chester building owner seeks driveway permit to stop neighbor 'harassment'

Chester building owner seeks driveway permit to stop neighbor ‘harassment’

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s unusual for a permit to put in a driveway to find its way to a select board for a decision, but in the case of 116 Main St. in Chester the situation itself is unusual. Also known as the Henry Office Building, the 1880s structure at […]

Preliminary Future of Ed report set to offer many options, but make no recommendations

Preliminary Future of Ed report set to offer many options, but make no recommendations Rep. Conlon goes off script claiming 'strong policy proposals'; 5.9% tax increase predicted in Dec. 1 letter

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC There were two takeaways from Monday’s meeting of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont. The commission was given the charge to look at the education system as a whole – including funding it – with a final report due in December 2025 and […]

Chester continues budgeting, hears Class 4 road complaint

Chester continues budgeting, hears Class 4 road complaint

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every year, the Chester Snowmobile Club comes before the Chester Select Board to request the use of certain town roads to link together private properties and Class 4 roads to complete the trails used by its members and by other members of the statewide VAST trail system. […]

School restructuring options include modular classes at CAES, pre-school at CTES

School restructuring options include modular classes at CAES, pre-school at CTES

By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC At last Thursday’s meeting of the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District, Superintendent Layne Millington unveiled an “Advisory Restructuring Report” that put forward three recommendations for making progress on the issues of under-utilization of Cavendish Town Elementary and over-crowding of Chester-Andover Elementary. Last year, the […]