Search Results for 'Commission on the Future of Public Education'
Ed finance panel delays internal deadline for cost-containment suggestions Kornheiser calls commission timeline 'impossible'
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Anyone who watched the Sept. 30 meeting of the Education Finance subcommittee of Vermont’s Commission on the Future of Public Education might well have expected that this Monday’s session would see members hammering out a list of short-term cost containment ideas to present to the full commission […]
A Q&A with Charlton and Chase, candidates for Vermont House for Windsor-Windham District
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Heather Chase, the Democratic incumbent, and Thomas Charlton, a Republican newcomer to politics, are running against each other for a two-year term in the Vermont House of Representatives representing the cross-county Windsor-Windham District consisting of the towns of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham. Voting will take place on 9 a.m. to […]
Chester GOP holds event for State House candidate Tom Charlton
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Around 40 people turned out in front of the Fullerton Inn in Chester on a cool, blustery Sunday afternoon to hear Vermont House candidate Tom Charlton speak on a wide range of topics including infrastructure, education and the state’s “clean heat standard.” But the event’s main message […]
GMUSD board mulls finances, new bond effort, restructuring
By Shawn Cunningham ©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC Late summer board meetings are often sparsely populated, with both members and the public on vacation, and light on topics to tackle. But while the former was true of the Thursday, Aug. 15 Green Mountain Unified School District board meeting, the latter was not. With just five members […]
‘Nobody is looking to close Cavendish’ – A tale of two meetings
By Shawn Cunningham © 2024 Telegraph Publishing Last week, two meetings looked at the same topic, but the tone of each could not have been more different. At issue is a proposal to move the 6th grades out of the elementary schools and create a grades 6 to 8 middle school. Currently, the middle school […]
To the editor: Why state lawmakers overturned Gov. Scott’s vetoes
Dear residents of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham, As your state representative, I am proud to have participated in the democratic process of legislating last week. On Monday, June 17, the state legislature reconvened at the State House to vote to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of six bills of importance to Vermont residents, taxpayers […]
Cavendish voters pass all articles but six offices left vacant GMUSD director slot unfilled
By Lorien Strange ©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC With a turnout of 216, voters of the town of Cavendish adopted a $2.45 million budget for the year 2025-26, set the yearly salary for the Select Board at $700 for each member, with $200 extra for the chair and appropriated $2,500 for Okemo Valley Technical Rescue. Voters […]
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 […]
To the editor: Clarkson on why taxes increased so much and what can be done about it
Most towns in Windsor County have received their education and municipal property tax bills by now. Many, but not all, towns have big tax increases. Woodstock residents have yet to receive their bills but we can expect a 30% increase. These are increases none of us have budgeted for, and one that will be a […]
To the editor: Rep. Chase offers 2024 legislative preview
The Vermont legislature opened its 2024 legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. As the state representative of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham, I have a positive expectancy about meeting the goals and priorities of this session as we address issues of continuing importance to our communities and our state. Vermont was once again hit […]
Op-ed: Vermont is more diverse than depicted
Editor’s note: The public is invited to write and send in op-ed’s on a variety of topics that directly affect our communities. Mail them to cprairie@chestertelegraph.org. By Sara Stowell ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recently The Chester Telegraph published an op-ed titled Vermont officially perpetuates its whiteness by Phayvanh Leukhamhan. The author critiques recent promotional videos […]
News Analysis: Did GM follow the ‘Rules’ in mascot vote?
By Shawn Cunningham © 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the confusion that followed the end of last week’s Green Mountain Unified School District meeting, Vice Chair Adrienne Williams asked how Robert’s Rules of Order would handle the complicated situation that had just unfolded. See Friday’s article: GM votes to keep Chieftain … At that moment, […]
Cavendish board talks energy, reappraisals and police coverage
By Cara Philbin ©2023 Telegraph Publishing After considerable discussion, the Cavendish Select Board, on Monday, Jan. 9, voted to direct the town’s Planning Commission to begin the process of adopting the enhanced energy chapter for the Town Plan. Commission chair Etienne Ting had told the board that if it wanted that outcome it should tell […]
Ryan-Chase forum sheds more light on State House candidates
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Like most candidate forums, the meetup in Grafton between Republican Eva Ryan and Democrat Heather Chase, candidates for the newly configured Windsor-Windham District of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham in the state House of Representatives, was a polite affair. No challenges, objections or name calling. The questions were […]
Derry Town Meeting scuttles dam article
By Shawn Cunningham © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC On a sunny but cool and blustery Saturday morning a little over a hundred residents of Londonderry gathered in the parking lot of Town Hall on Middletown Road to hold their Town Meeting, which had been postponed from early March due to Covid worries. Ironically, they were […]
Meet the candidates: Four vie for two one-year seats on Chester Select Board
©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph sent a series of questions to the four candidates who are vying for two one-year terms on the Chester Select Board. Those two seats are currently held by Leigh Dakin and Jeff Holden, who are seeking re-election. These questions are currently on issues top of mind for many […]
Participants sought for workforce survey as Chester updated on Communities Challenge Chester board begins 2022 budget review; gets update on Lovers Lane Brook bridge
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Springfield Regional Development Corp. came before the Chester Select Board last week to update information on the Working Communities Challenge, a three-year, $300,000 grant program sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and several philanthropic organizations to remove barriers to work and increase the region’s […]
Weekly Covid Update: Scott extends emergency order even as mask mandate nixed for fully vaxxed Vermonters
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On Friday, Gov. Phil Scott extended Vermont’s state of emergency for another 30 days, even as he announced the leap to Step 3 in the Vermont Forward Plan; and eliminated the mask and social distance requirements for fully vaccinated Vermonters. As Vermont continues to lead the nation in vaccinations and […]
Scott: No masks required outdoors, with caveat
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott announced on Friday that beginning Saturday, May 1 — Green Up Day — masks are no longer required outdoors as long as physical distancing can still be maintained. The change in Vermont’s mask mandate is based on revised guidance by the Centers for Disease Control. With Vermont […]
Weekly Covid Update: Vaxxed households can gather; more groups OK’d for jab signups
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Gov. Phil Scott marked the one-year anniversary of the first reported Vermont case of Covid-19 with good news on Friday, detailing a loosening of gathering restrictions, as well as new approved phases for vaccination registration. On Friday, Scott announced new gathering guidelines, now allowing all vaccinated Vermonters to gather together […]
