[T]wo school district merger proposals in northern and central Vermont failed at the ballot box Tuesday, where voters had one last shot at consolidating voluntarily before the state makes the final call later this month on unifications under Act 46.
Merger proposals were before voters in the city and town of Barre, as well as the seven school districts of the Orleans Central Supervisory Union, which includes Albany, Barton, Brownington, Glover, Irasburg, Orleans and Westmore.
In both regions, local officials had proposed that all the districts sending to a union high school consolidate under one board, with one budget.
The votes were the last possibility for voluntary mergers under Act 46. The State Board of Education, which has final decision-making authority on mergers under the law, has until Nov. 30 to decide what to do with those districts that have refused to merge thus far. The board has issued provisional decisions on basically every district that put forward an alternative proposal, but it had declined to weigh in on the Barres and Orleans Central districts until voters had their say.
The vote was overwhelmingly pro-merger in Barre City, where 1,887 voted in favor of consolidation and 567 voted against, according to unofficial tallies reported by superintendent John Pandolfo on Tuesday evening. But it was inversely lopsided in Barre Town, where residents voted 2,106 to 1,262 against a unified district. The outcome mirrored results from 2016, when the city said yes and the town rejected a merger between the two communities.
A merger was also defeated – resoundingly – in Orleans Central towns. A majority of voters said no to consolidation in Albany (170-174), Barton (263-277), Brownington (109-190), Glover (197-280), Irasburg (90-360), and Orleans (99-160), according to unofficial tallies reported by superintendent Bev Davis on Tuesday evening. Results for Westmore weren’t available by a press time, but each town needed to approve the merger in order for the proposal to pass.
Local officials pitching consolidation proposals had argued one board could better oversee a child’s education from pre-kindergarten through high school than multiple overlapping governance structures. And they also argued that the State Board was almost certain to merge them anyway, and that consolidating by choice would at least allow localities to make decisions about what mergers would look like. In forced mergers, newly formed districts adopt the articles of agreement written by the state, which dictate board representation and who can decide whether or not to close a school.
Still, voters went another way.
In Orleans Central towns, many said they just didn’t believe the proposal would ever save money, and others complained about the merger saddling them with debt from another community.
“No. N-O. I don’t want to pay somebody else’s taxes. I got enough,” said Orleans voter Bernard Matthews.
Other said consolidating districts was contrary to the state’s local control tradition.
“I think local control has always been a hallmark of Vermont education,” said Barton voter Mark Heinrichs.
In Barre, former town select board member Chip Castle said he voted for the merger.
“I’ve always wanted the town of Barre and the city of Barre to work closer together,” Castle said. “We’ve got to get over the ‘you’re from the town, I’m from the city’ thing.”
But a majority in the town disagreed with him. Many said that the city and town together would create too large a district, and that the student populations in both districts were too different.
Barre Town voter Dottye Ricks said Act 46 was flawed from the start. The notion that “one coat fits everybody” is “irresponsible,” she said.
The State Board is next scheduled to meet Nov. 15 at the Barre Elks Lodge in Barre.
Elizabeth Gribkoff contributed reporting.