[T]he Act 46 study committee for Barre City and Barre Town proposed merging into one unified district with a single school board at the State Board of Education meeting this week. The board on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of the merger that will be put to voters on election day.
Tommy Walz, the co-chair of the committee, said the plan, which unifies two towns and three school districts, will “make no changes in the schools.”
“It is not a plan to consolidate … schools,” Walz said. “This is a plan to consolidate the school boards.”
If voters approve the plan, the new school district will combine boards for students in grades Pre K-12 at two elementary/middle schools, one secondary school and a regional career technical center. The proposal qualifies for tax breaks under the “preferred” merger model under Act 46, the school district consolidation law.
Mark Perrin, a member of the State Board of Education, asked Walz and his co-chair Alice Farrell why they didn’t apply last year under the accelerated phase. If schools had, they would have been eligible for additional tax savings.
Farrell said the committee didn’t want to rush into the change. “We chose the more tortoise like route to make sure to win the race,” she said.
Besides, Farrell added, the committee agreed early on that finances were not the primary reason for moving forward. Instead, they focused on increasing educational opportunities for students.
Under the proposal, the Barre City and Barre Town will share resources, eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and create a stronger recruitment and mentoring program for staff.
The savings are expected to be around $200,000 a year, according to John Pandolfo, superintendent of the Barre Supervisory Union.
Farrell said schools that work in clusters perform better than schools that stand alone because they can cross pollinate and better take care of students, families and the community at-large.
“The Barre City, Barre Town cluster works because of Spaulding High School,” Farrell said. “We are looking to expand that unification to unify elementary and middle schools.”
The district unification will also allow schools to deal with vendors in a more organized way and create a continuum of services that benefits all students.
Barre is one of three school district unification plans that will be put to a vote on November 8. The other two are Addison Northeast and Grand Isle.
