Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bruce Sterling, of Westminster, an archeologist with two children who attend the Westminster Central Elementary School, and the host of “Border Radio,” on WOOL Radio in Bellows Falls.
[I] recently attended the Act 46 school consolidation informational meeting in Westminster for the Northeast Supervisory Union schools. I have had my doubts about Act 46 and consolidating schools since the Legislature passed the bill in haste over a year ago. The informational meeting did not in any way alleviate my concerns.
I cannot speak for all the towns in our district but as a Westminster resident and parent of two children at Westminster Center School I would like to explain my opposition to this consolidation effort. In short, the voters of Westminster are being asked to approve a school consolidation plan which will give up much of our voice in the governance and budgets of our elementary and secondary schools and with few benefits. If this consolidation plan passes, Westminster will lose school choice (all our children would be sent to the Bellows Falls Middle School for seventh and eighth grades), lose our local school board and, in my opinion, have the heart of our town meeting torn out with all school votes reduced to a single school budget vote by Australian ballot outside of our town meeting. Westminster voters are being asked to give up way too much of what we have had for generations for very little, if anything, in return.
The school consolidation vote will take place by a simple yes or no vote by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 7. Thankfully there will be discussion on this vote during the school portion of town meeting in Westminster on Saturday, March 4. School consolidation would combine the governance of the elementary and secondary schools of Westminster with the towns of Rockingham, Grafton and Athens. The local town school boards would be replaced by a larger 10-member consolidated board comprised of members voted on by all the towns (Rockingham five members, Westminster three members, Athens and Grafton each with one member). All governance and budget decisions would be controlled by the new consolidated board.
I am concerned that under a consolidated board my voice and those of my fellow townspeople will be watered down when instead of addressing five fellow townspeople that I know sitting on our school board, I would have to address a larger 10-member board, the majority of which I will certainly not know because they will be from other towns with other concerns. If Westminster parents or voters wants anything changed or improved at our schools, not only would they have to convince three of their fellows sitting on the board but elicit the support of three other strangers from across other towns. All decisions concerning our schools will no longer be our own. In addition, all decisions which are made for our school by this board will not be debated and voted on at our Westminster town meeting. Our only voice will be on an up or down single Australian ballot vote for a large consolidated school budget, for all the towns’ schools. Westminster’s school budget will be buried, lost in a much larger budget, which would include the budgets of three other towns as well as an overall administrative budget. Westminster’s vote will be further watered down as it will be combined with the votes of all voters of all the towns of the consolidated district.
The Legislature and state education department in drafting these rules for a “preferred” consolidated district are essentially attempting to do away with our Vermont form of town hall participatory democracy.
The Legislature and state education department in drafting these rules for a “preferred” consolidated district are essentially attempting to do away with our Vermont form of town hall participatory democracy. It seems to me that they do not trust the voters of each town to make the decisions to govern their own schools. I strongly disagree with this approach: If we are to be trusted to vote for and decide on our governor and our legislators, those same politicians should trust us to have a strong local democratic voice to run our schools and oversee our children’s education.
As I have been discussing the implications of Act 46 and school consolidation with my fellow school parents and townspeople I have yet to find one person who supports consolidation and losing our seventh and eighth grade school choice. It seems clear that this consolidation effort by the state is not a good fit for the people of Westminster. It is clear that an alternate governance approach is warranted for our town, as is allowed by the Act 46 law.
Whatever benefits could be accomplished for individual towns through consolidation could just as easily be realized through a more democratic system set up through an alternative governance model that can be instituted if this vote for consolidation fails. I urge my fellow Westminster voters and school parents and our neighbors in the other towns in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union to vote no to school consolidation on March 7. Join with me in voting to save seventh and eighth grade school choice, keep our local school board, protect the strong community bond of our local town meeting, and preserve our voice for our local schools.
If anyone has questions or concerns there will be an informational meeting held on consolidation organized by the Westminster School Board at the Westminster Center School on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.
