[J]AMAICA — With Act 46 merger talks looming, Jamaica voters have declared their school district’s independence.
The town Tuesday voted 78 to 75 to leave the five-town Leland & Gray Middle and High School union, a move that could allow Jamaica to pursue school choice options that are not available within the current union structure.
But Jamaica’s exit is not yet certain, since the other four union towns — Brookline, Newfane, Townshend and Windham — each would need to approve the change in a vote. Officials expect they’ll be answering a lot of questions before those votes, which are to take place within 90 days.
“We need to provide information and transparency so that people have context in which to make decisions,” said Bill Anton, Windham Central Supervisory Union superintendent.
Act 46, the 2015 state law that aims to streamline administration and equalize educational opportunities, has pushed districts across Vermont to consider school governance mergers that would take effect no later than 2019.
But in Windham Central, merging is a complex topic. The supervisory union encompasses 12 boards and eight schools, with educational setups that run the gamut.
Windham Central has one town with no school and kindergarten-through-12 choice (Stratton); two towns that operate elementary schools and offer choice for middle and high school (Dover and Wardsboro); and one K-through-8 town with high school choice (Marlboro). There are also the five union towns, which operate elementary schools but then funnel their students to Leland & Gray in Townshend for middle and high school.
With no quick way to reconcile all those differences, Windham Central leaders didn’t pursue the state’s “accelerated” Act 46 merger option, choosing instead to take more time to study the issue.
Where Jamaica’s elementary fits in any future school governance setups has been a matter of much debate. Officials have examined four options, but only one would involve staying and merging within the Leland & Gray union. The other three would require leaving the union and introducing some level of school choice via mergers with other districts.
A townwide survey earlier this year produced no clear answers. Staying with Leland & Gray received more votes than any other option, but it did not garner a majority: Sixty percent of respondents voted for one of the other three proposals.
That led Jamaica’s school board to schedule Tuesday’s Australian ballot vote on whether to leave the union. The special election drew about 23 percent of the town’s registered voters.
“We’re not really surprised by how close it was, because that mirrors what we’ve found in our survey and in conversation with residents,” Jamaica School Board Chairwoman Stephanie Amyot said Wednesday.
“People on both sides of the issue are passionate and have valid concerns and arguments,” she added. “At heart, we all want what is best for our kids.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Jamaica town clerk said she had not heard any request for a recount of Tuesday’s vote. There’s also a chance residents could submit a petition for reconsideration.
If Tuesday’s balloting stands, residents in the other Leland & Gray towns would vote on ratifying it. If any one town votes against Jamaica leaving, the union will be preserved as it is now, Anton said.
Anton — who took over as Windham Central’s superintendent this month amid several leadership changes in the supervisory union — said it’s not his job to lobby voters to preserve the Leland & Gray union. Rather, he said, he’ll ensure that “all the legal mechanisms are taken care of” for the upcoming votes while also responding to questions and concerns throughout the union.
With Act 46, “we have a whole new world that we’re creating here,” Anton said. “It’s an opportunity for us to share our vision as to where we’re headed as a supervisory union.”
Joe Winrich, a Townshend resident who chairs the Leland & Gray board, said he’s concerned about the Tuesday vote in Jamaica. “I’d like to understand the ‘why,’” Winrich said. “This is an opportunity for us to find out what’s missing and change what needs to be changed so there’s not this feeling that they want to leave the (union).”
At the same time, Winrich said he wants to gather as much information as possible before the other union towns vote “and then let them make their own decisions.”
One key question for Winrich is what impact Jamaica’s departure would have on Leland & Gray’s enrollment and budget. It’s a concern that was raised publicly last year by the regional middle and high school’s former principal.
“Is Leland & Gray viable if one of the towns leave? We’ll look at the numbers on that,” Winrich said.
Amyot said Jamaica’s board will be waiting to see what the other union towns decide, “and in the meantime working to make Leland & Gray the best school it can be.”
“We’re encouraged that the new administration there is taking Jamaica residents’ concerns seriously and is willing to engage in a dialogue,” she said.
That dialogue, in spite of Tuesday’s vote, still includes many Act 46 options.
Jamaica’s school board in May voted to join a study committee looking at a pre-K-through-12 merger of the Leland & Gray districts. On Wednesday, Amyot said the board will be sending a representative to merger talks involving Dover, Wardsboro and Marlboro — a potential merger setup that would provide school choice.
Additionally, Anton said an Act 46 study committee is forming to examine a possible “side-by-side” merger involving the Leland & Gray towns and the school choice towns of Dover, Marlboro and Wardsboro.
“There are many possibilities, but all of them look through the lens of what is in the best interest of our students,” Anton said.
