[S]TAMFORD — A group of Stamford residents is pursuing a cross-state school district affiliation with Clarksburg, Massachusetts.
However, a key state lawmaker involved in recent school district merger legislation said the small border town’s quest is unrealistic.
For Stamford, the first step came May 31 with overwhelming voter rejection of a proposed Act 46 merger with the towns of Readsboro and Halifax, along with the Twin Valley School District, which includes Wilmington and Whitingham. While the other towns approved the plan, Stamford voted it down, 173 to 6.
Kimberly Morandi-Roberts is a member of a five-person volunteer study committee named by the Stamford School Committee to evaluate a proposed union with Clarksburg, its closest neighbor. The two communities are linked by a short drive along Route 8.
“At this time, our subcommittee is organizing around next steps from predominantly the Stamford side,” Morandi-Roberts said.
Lawmakers this year extended the deadline for school district mergers from June to November. School districts that consolidate under Act 46 guidelines would qualify for incentives, including a property tax rate reduction for the first few years of the merger.
“As the ‘no’ vote was the first hurdle, and we’ve cleared it, we now move into a more active fact-gathering stage, involving the legislators of both states seeking direction from the respective Department/Board of Education, and creating a communication plan,” Morandi-Roberts said.
Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, whose legislative district includes Stamford, said the approval process for the interstate district would be “not insignificant,” noting it would need legislative approval in both Vermont and Massachusetts and from the U.S. Congress.
Vermont currently has an interstate compact with New Hampshire, allowing bi-state districts with the Granite State. It has no such agreement with Massachusetts or New York.
A merger between Stamford and Clarksburg would make sense, Sibilia said.
“Stamford is perhaps the most isolated town in southern Vermont,” Sibilia said, “and its residents are largely oriented to employment, services and commerce available along the 3-mile expanse of flat road leading to neighboring Clarksburg and North Adams beyond.”
But state Sen. Philip Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, cast doubt on the idea. Vermont passed legislation for bi-state districts with New York in the 1970s, but New York never followed suit.
“That is a good indication of how hard it is. And then it would require Congress to act,” Baruth said.
One hurdle would be Baruth himself. “Vermont would be delegating part of its authority [to provide public education] to Massachusetts. I know I don’t want that,” he said.
He advised Stamford residents to consider a merger with Clarksburg “an extremely unlikely possibility.” He said approvals would take years to achieve. Meanwhile, Act 46 deadlines are approaching in the fall and early in 2018. ‘
Baruth added, though, that the town, which is geographically isolated, could propose an alternative district format under Act 46.
Jonathan Lev, superintendent of the North Berkshire School Union, which includes the Clarksburg district and three other Massachusetts towns, said officials on that side of the border are open to discussion.
But Lev said the Clarksburg district is now focused on a proposed $17.5 million expansion and renovation of the K-8 school, which is heading into the final design stage.
“That has all of our attention right now,” Lev said.
The dialogue with Stamford “is in the information-gathering stage,” he said, adding, “I think right now there are a lot of questions, so I don’t want to address them until we have all the facts.”
The Clarksburg school has about 175 students in Grades Kindergarten through 8, he said. Stamford lists an enrollment of about 76 students, also in Grades K-8. Both districts now send high school students primarily to schools in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
