The Deeper Dig is a weekly podcast from the VTDigger newsroom. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
As schools around Vermont go quiet for the year, the effects of the state’s 2015 consolidation law are increasingly visible.
Earlier this month, the Agency of Education kicked off phase two of Act 46, recommending that 43 districts that haven’t yet volunteered to merge do so next year.
State Board of Education Chair Krista Huling reiterated this week that the plan is meant to provide educational opportunities through larger governance systems. But, she said, “not everybody’s happy with these decisions.”
And if districts opt not to implement the state’s recommendations? “Under law, the state board has the authority to merge districts,” she said. “That’s where these conversations become very difficult.”
Meanwhile, some districts that already volunteered to merge are seeing local institutions shutter. In Chelsea, a pro-merger vote last fall led to the closure this week of the town’s high school, which has served as a linchpin of the community for a century.
“It’s been a very trying and frustrating process,” said Chelsea Principal Mark Blount. He knows the school will look very different next year — but recognizes that residents were “loud and clear” in voting to become a choice district for high schoolers.
On this week’s podcast, go inside Chelsea High School’s last days with Hechinger Report editor Caroline Preston. Plus, Krista Huling describes what’s next for the state’s recommended merger plan.
Subscribe to the Deeper Dig on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. Music by Kevin MacLeod and Chris Zabriskie. Audio courtesy WDEV Radio.
