Editor’s note: This article is by Lisa McCormack of the Stowe Reporter, in which it was first published May 1, 2014.
The Stowe School Board on Tuesday morning sent a message to the Vermont Legislature: Stowe’s school governance system is working well. Please don’t tamper with it.
School board members expressed concerns about H.883, which would eliminate local school boards and supervisory unions and replace them with larger “expanded school districts.” The bill is designed to streamline the governance of Vermont’s schools by reducing the number of districts from 273 to about 55.
The bill won final approval in the House, 76-60, Wednesday.
The Senate is expected to take it up later this week. It’s unknown whether the Senate will take any action before the Legislature’s expected May 10 adjournment.
The consolidation would take place over the next six years. Schools districts that opt to consolidate early could be rewarded with additional education funding from the state. “Design teams” would assign school districts that decline to merge voluntarily to extended districts.
Proponents of the bill say the change would provide greater educational opportunities for all students — especially those living in rural areas — and that it could possibly save money.
Stowe School Board members fear that it would eliminate local control of education and “fray” the close ties the board shares with the community.
Board members are also worried about H.889, a bill pending in the Senate that calls for changes in school financing and the authority and functioning of supervisory unions.
The school board held a special meeting last Friday to discuss the proposed legislation. They met again Monday evening to draft a resolution stating that while the board approves of the goals outlined in the bills — including educational opportunities for students and strong relationships between schools and surrounding communities — it doesn’t agree that a statewide mandate would be an effective way of achieving them. It also asks that school districts that are already meeting the goals be allowed to opt out of the consolidation plan.
Board members say it would be more effective for the State Agency of Education to assist school districts that are struggling to deliver a quality education, rather than overhauling the entire system.
“They’re taking a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed,” board member Jim Brochhausen said.
“If Newport has problems with academic rigor, let’s send someone up there to help them,” board Chairwoman Cam Page said.
Her proposals have also maintained district school boards and local control of education, she said.
Gov. Peter Shumlin supports the bill. House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, has also voiced his support.
Limited reaction
Rep. Peter Peltz, D-Woodbury, a member of the Education Committee, helped introduce the bill and voted in favor of it.
In a telephone interview Tuesday he said that there hadn’t seen an outpouring of either support for or concern about the measure from school boards or constituents.
Peltz has read the Stowe School Board resolution, but said he wasn’t sure Stowe could opt out of the new governance system.
“There might be a way, but it’s unlikely in that it’s a lone district,” Peltz said. “If they have 1,000 students they might be able to do (so).”
If the bill becomes law, local communities would still play a role in how their schools are governed, he said.
“We’ve done everything we can to address that both in process and results,” Peltz said.
For instance, local advisory committees made up of community members would look at how money is allocated in school budgets and make recommendations, Peltz said.
“It’s not as if they would be passive spectators,” Peltz said. “They would be very engaged in the process.”
The focus of the bill is to recognize that few Vermont towns are self-sufficient enough to provide their students with the wide range of courses they want and need to succeed in college and working life, he said.
“The primary focus is to redefine school districts to look beyond town lines,” Peltz said. “We’re hoping that in the best interest of students we can redefine what we think of as community, and for some, what they think of as local control.”
H.883
The bill calls for consolidating the state’s 273 school districts by 2020 and replacing them with “expanded districts” that would have a minimum of 1,000 students, or four existing districts. Each district would offer pre-K through grade 12 education and a tech center, be governed by a single board and operate with a single budget.
Proponents say that now students who live in rural areas with limited course offerings are at a disadvantage when applying to college or seeking employment after high school. They also contend that with small school districts it can be difficult to get documentation in terms of student performance.
While proponents haven’t presented the bill as a cost-savings measure, they say it could possibly save money.
For instance, it would no longer be necessary for each school district to pay for an annual financial audit.
Additionally, larger school districts could better bargain for fuel and food contracts.
Details regarding how individual school districts would be represented are still being worked out. Under the current proposal, members would be elected to the expanded district boards.
Advisory councils, which could be made up of elected parents, teachers and students, would work with these boards to make sure individual school needs are met.
The councils would be given more responsibilities than a parent-teacher organization. but no statuary rights in terms of budgets or contract negotiations, under the current version of the bill.
