[M]arlboro voters left no doubt Tuesday about their commitment to maintaining the town’s K-through-8 school.
On a 147-12 vote, residents approved a plan to join forces with two newly merged school districts while still maintaining Marlboro’s status as an independently governed district.
The complex setup, called a “two by two by one,” is a new creation of the Legislature. It allows Marlboro to meet the goals of Act 46 without risking the town’s middle school or its school board.
“I see the turnout and the vote outcome as continued support for the district and board’s action plan,” said Doug Korb, Marlboro School Board chairman. “The board has made every effort to include the voters in this process, and it shows through this vote.”
Act 46 pushes for creation of larger, consolidated school districts, but Marlboro residents maintained that their district was not a good fit for the law’s standard merger setup. They argued that the district’s geographic and structural isolation – it’s the only K-through-8 district in Windham Central Supervisory Union – made it difficult to find suitable merger partners.
Retaining grades seven and eight is a priority for Marlboro residents: Earlier this year, voters rejected an Act 46 merger that would have eliminated the town’s middle school.
Marlboro school officials took multiple steps to come up with an Act 46 solution. They added two school board members to handle extra work; surveyed town residents; talked with other school districts; and lobbied the Legislature for more time and better guidelines to comply with Act 46.
Lawmakers subsequently approved Act 49, which allowed more time for school mergers and created the “two by two by one” merger structure that Marlboro eventually chose.
Under that plan, Marlboro remains a single-town school district but will be linked with the West River Valley and River Valleys districts – two larger, merged school districts created this year in Windham Central.
Marlboro joins the supervisory union with those districts but keeps its K-through-8 school setup. The town also keeps school choice for grades nine through 12.
State Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe recommended that the State Board of Education take no action on Marlboro’s merger proposal, in part because she believed it did not do enough to meet the goals of Act 46. Nevertheless, the board approved the plan in September, setting the stage for Tuesday’s vote.
The results of that vote, along with the Act 46-related work that came before, give the Marlboro School Board “confidence to keep moving forward with its plans to maintain its governance while reaching out to (Windham Central) partner districts and districts outside the supervisory union to expand opportunities,” Korb said.
Korb said the board soon will be reviewing a proposal that would exchange middle school students between Marlboro and other districts.
The vote also makes budget planning easier, Korb added.
There are now just two districts in Windham Central that do not have a state-approved Act 46 plan. Windham Central Superintendent Bill Anton said school boards in the towns of Windham and Stratton will be applying to the state for approval of alternative governance plans under the law.
