Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rama Schneider, who is a member of the Williamstown School Board.
[T]he current school governance proposal wending its way through the Vermont House and Senate, H.361, has some very beneficial aspects, but the bill currently is missing a method to balance political power so governance consolidation does not become a way for larger communities to force school closure and consolidation on smaller communities.
In my opinion the primary beneficial aspect of H.361 is the desire to have money lead the discussion for the immediate future. There are small schools that should close because they are financially unviable, there are private schools that shouldn’t be used because the tuition is too high, and there are large schools that need to be downsized due to excess capacity.
As passed by the House, H.361 will maintain small school grants as an ongoing revenue under a different name if a receiving district engages in governance consolidation or is geographically isolated. It isn’t H.361 that threatens our state’s small schools, but instead it is the requirement that pretty much everything in a school must be managed and handled by licensed “highly qualified” professionals. Governance consolidation will at least allow districts to compensate for this professionalization by making more efficient use of personnel.
It will truly make me sad to be one of the last members of a Williamstown School Board. But if giving up that local board means improved opportunities for students at a price that is responsive to Williamstown’s needs and desires then I will be sad, and then I will be happy to help the future become today.
Secondary to and an offshoot of the economics is that H.361 is not about schools but is instead about governance. Governance consolidation will make sharing of resources including finances much easier, and even more importantly it will shift time, effort and expense from managing the needs of school boards to attending to the needs of students. I understand we are used to our very local boards. It will truly make me sad to be one of the last members of a Williamstown School Board. But if giving up that local board means improved opportunities for students at a price that is responsive to Williamstown’s needs and desires then I will be sad, and then I will be happy to help the future become today.
The missing ingredient is how to make sure future governance structures don’t allow larger communities to force closure on smaller schools simply because the larger community has excess capacity and most of the voting population. To that end I would propose Vermont’s Legislature open itself up to the Vermont style of charter school. Many towns throughout Vermont have made use of the state’s municipal charter process to meet local needs. School districts are legal municipalities too and if encouraged to make use of this process could certainly come up with some innovative ways to assure political balance between large and small.
I am happy to allow money to be the immediate driver of discussion, and I have mixed emotions about ending so many local school boards, but with a commonsense approach such as charters we can move ahead in a way that works for students, parents and communities.
