[W]hile some school districts are considering going the independent school route to avoid forced mergers under Act 46, Franklin voters on Tuesday decided to pass on that strategy.
Residents overwhelming cast their ballots against a proposed article to close the school – a first step toward privatization – 175 to 15.
“The (school) board was unanimously opposed to that article. We just felt there was too much risk associated with that strategy,” said board chair Bob Berger.
Proponents of the close-on-your-own scheme argue that consolidated, regional boards will inevitably close small schools. Because the law won’t allow the state to impose mergers on two districts with different operating structures, they say voting to close now can sidestep mergers, allowing local communities to maintain their school boards – if not their schools. Private schools can open later in the former public school’s building, they say.
During debate in Franklin last week over how to fend off a merger, James Jewett, a proponent of the closure plan, said such a move would “get the state’s attention that you’re serious.” He added that relying on a lawsuit to block mergers was “putting all of (the town’s) eggs in one basket.”
Whether the strategy would work is unclear. The Vermont Agency of Education has pushed back against the strategy, telling districts that votes to close won’t preclude mergers unless schools are actually shuttered before the State Board of Education issues their final plan under the law, which is expected next month.
For some, the agency’s directive has steered them away from closing to dodge mergers. The Franklin school board strongly urged voters against the strategy, saying the scheme was legally risky and could cause a mass exodus of talented staff.
But some districts are going ahead with closure votes. Holland voted last month to close and tuition its students to nearby Derby (officials in Holland do not anticipate privatizing). And Windham has warned a vote for Nov. 6 to close their school in the event the state decides to merge them with the West River Unified Union School District.
The school board in Franklin, which may have to merge with Highgate, Swanton and the Missisquoi Valley Union High school districts, has instead decided to fight a forced merger in the courts, if the State Board of Education ultimately decides to impose one. A coalition of communities has decided to file a joint lawsuit in the event the State Board decides to merge them with larger neighbors. Fifteen districts representing 17 towns, including Franklin, have signed on so far.
The State Board, meanwhile, which is tasked with making final decisions under the law, is edging toward a Nov. 30 deadline to issue a statewide plan. The board met Tuesday to sketch out a set of principles to guide its decision-making process going forward, and could issue a first packet of decisions as early as mid-October.
