All Entries in the "Act 46" Category
Powden claims ‘no intentional violation’ in Telegraph open meeting complaint
© 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC After approving a budget and re-adopting the “limited school transfer program” at its Jan. 17 meeting, the Green Mountain Unified School District board turned its attention to a complaint by The Chester Telegraph alleging that the during the recent run up to the budget the board had twice violated Vermont’s Open […]
With little enthusiasm, GMUSD board sends budget to voters
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Green Mountain Unified School District board moved ahead in fits and starts Wednesday night, approving a budget proposal that a number of members were not happy with while Superintendent Meg Powden repeatedly sounded “retreat,” promising just such an extended board session “sooner than later” to sort […]
Joint Cavendish/Chester school board meeting turns on issues of transparency, trust
By Shawn Cunningham © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC At a meeting of the Cavendish Town Elementary School Board – on its own and in a joint session with the Chester-Andover Elementary School on Tuesday night – a number of Cavendish residents expressed misgivings about the intentions of administration of the new school district. Their suspicions […]
Powden adds foreign language to nurse, principal cuts; refuses to release meeting recording
Editor’s Note: The Chester Telegraph attended the 6 p.m. Jan. 2 meeting of the Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee as it worked on the budget for the new school district. Unfortunately our reporter was unable to stay past 7 p.m., but the next morning requested a copy of the digital audio file recorded […]
TRSU Super Powden proposes consolidating nurse, principal functions in new district
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC One agenda item out of more than a dozen – next year’s budget – sucked the oxygen out of the room at last Tuesday night’s meeting of the new Green Mountain Unified School District, held at Cavendish Town Elementary School. The audience of about 15 was unhappy […]
Ludlow residents petition for school merger re-vote, hope to keep BRHS alive
UPDATE: On Wednesday, Dec. 27, Ludlow’s Assistant Town Clerk and Treasurer Pamela Todt confirmed that the petition had 127 valid signatures and is therefore sufficient to cause a re-vote of the merger with Mount Holly. By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC With just two days left until a Dec. 28 deadline, voters in […]
To the editor: BRHS board will work toward smooth transition
The School Board Directors of the Union 39 district collectively wanted to assure everyone that we will be working hard to help make the transition from a union school district to a unified district as smooth as possible. While there are no doubt some in our school community are not in support of this unified […]
Last-chance merger passes in Ludlow, Mt. Holly; BRHS to close by June 2020
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Perhaps seeing an outcome that might be inevitable, Ludlow and Mt. Holly residents went to the polls Tuesday and approved a plan that will merge all their schools into one district but will close Black River High School by June 2020 and tuition those students to other […]
News analysis: What ‘yes’ and ‘no’ mean in Ludlow-Mt. Holly merger vote
By Shawn Cunningham ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Tuesday, Nov. 28, voters in the towns of Ludlow and Mt. Holly will once again go to the polls to decide what course to take in educating their primary and secondary students. But according to merger consultant Dan French, this will be their last chance to control […]
New RED school district gets under way
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The launch of the Green Mountain Unified School District, a Regional Education District (RED) created by an Act 46 merger vote in May, took place Tuesday night. Not counting school and town employees, only a handful of voters from the constituent towns of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and […]
Ludlow nixes Mill River merger, Mt. Holly votes yes;
Merger heads back to Act 46 drawing board
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Voters in Ludlow today defeated a proposed merger between that town and its U-39 partner Mount Holly with the Mill River Unified Union School District in Clarendon. The vote in Ludlow was 245 for and 527 against the merger out of a total checklist of 1,588 voters […]
More speak against merger at Ludlow meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC A crowd of nearly 80 people gathered in President’s Hall at the Ludlow Elementary School on a warm sunny evening last Tuesday to hear a presentation and ask questions about the proposed merger of the Ludlow and Mount Holly schools into the Mill River Unified Union School […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: How an Act 46 merger became a separation
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC In two weeks, the voters of Ludlow and Mount Holly will go to the polls to decide whether to close Black River High School and become part of the Mill River Unified Union School District in Clarendon. This was the direction chosen by representatives of those towns […]
Ludlow group plans ‘life beyond a no vote’ on Mill River merger
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC About 20 members of the loosely organized group that wants to keep Black River High School open met at the Ludlow Community Center on Thursday evening to plan for how children could be educated if the town rejects the proposed merger of the Ludlow and Mount Holly […]
Four towns OK Green Mountain RED merger; voter turnout low
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Although turnout numbers were low, voters in Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester today, approved an Act 46 merger of the six districts that comprise their school system into the Green Mountain Unified School District. The new district will operate Chester-Andover Elementary School, Cavendish Town Elementary and Green […]
Pre-vote Act 46 discussion hits lots of topics at Andover meeting
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Just three days ahead of a vote on forming a Regional Education District — or RED — several members of the Andover community attending an information meeting at Andover Town Hall were more focused on Act 60 – the school funding statute – than on Act 46 […]
Questions abound at Act 46 merger meeting in Cavendish
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing, LLC About 40 community members gathered in the cafeteria of Cavendish Town Elementary on Tuesday night to hear a presentation on the proposed Act 46 merger of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester to create a Green Mountain Unified School District. They also asked questions of members of the […]
Small crowd for Mill River merger meeting in Ludlow
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Considering the emotion that has swirled around the question of what should happen to Black River High School in the Act 46 school consolidation, a surprisingly small crowd turned out on Monday night to hear about and ask questions on the plan. Subtracting board members, Two Rivers […]
Act 46 RED goes to voters: What will merger mean?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Next Tuesday, May 2, the voters of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester will decide whether they will join their existing school districts into a new, unified one to fulfill the requirements of the state’s school consolidation law. The Regional Education District — or RED — that will […]
Between school mergers and splits: How did we get here?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Enacted by the Vermont legislature in the spring of 2015, Act 46 was designed to improve education opportunities for Vermont students while lowering the cost of providing those opportunities through mergers that would scale up the state’s schools and help create efficiencies. And that’s more than just […]
