Even by Vermont standards, Windham Elementary is a tiny school.
The two-classroom building employs two full-time teachers, one of whom works as the principal and the other as an administrative assistant. During the 2020-21 year, the K-6 school had only nine students— the smallest enrollment of any public school in Vermont, according to state data. This fall, enrollment has risen to 16.
But despite its size, the tiny school has been at the center of a bitter battle among residents of the hilly Windham County town. Over the past few months, Windham’s roughly 400 residents have seen heated town meetings, frayed friendships and claims of improper voting, all over one question:
Should the school be closed?
“It has divided the town,” said Mickey Parker-Jennings, principal and teacher at Windham Elementary. “The town is almost split right down the middle.”
Faced with dwindling enrollment and state pressure to consolidate with neighboring districts, rural Vermonters have grappled with what to do with small schools.
Last year, Windham Elementary was one of half a dozen schools across the state with fewer than 30 students, and one of only two with fewer than 20 students, according to state data.
In 2019, fearing the demise of their only school, Windham voters rejected a state-backed proposal to merge with neighboring school districts.
“We fought like hell,” said Carolyn Partridge, a school board member and state representative.
Now, two years later, residents are again fighting over the school’s future — this time, against their neighbors.
Earlier this year, a group of Windham residents started a petition for a townwide vote on closing the tiny school.
In Vermont, where tax rates depend on per-pupil expenditures, some residents thought the cost of running a school with fewer than 20 students is just too expensive.
Closing the school would free up public money to send kids to bigger, better-resourced schools, they said, which would give children access to programs that Windham lacks: advanced academics, music, organized sports and extracurriculars.
It could also make life easier for parents. Erin Kehoe, whose daughter attends kindergarten at Windham Elementary, said she recently decided to quit her job of 23 years so she could devote more time to taking care of her kids. Meanwhile, she said, schools in neighboring districts offer after-school care, before-school care, pre-K programs, lunch programs — none of which are available at Windham.
“There’s no extras,” she said. “Let’s use that word.”
She and other parents also raised concerns that the size of the school — which could put 5-year-olds and 12-year-olds side-by-side on a daily basis — could set the stage for uncomfortable dynamics, or even bullying.
“I have heard various unsavory stories from people whose kids went there,” said Meredith Tips-McLaine, a Windham resident who sends her 7-year-old to the private Mountain School in Winhall, roughly 20 minutes away.
38 signatures on a petition
Supporters gathered 38 signatures, enough to force a vote. Residents would be asked whether the school should be closed, and K-6 students in the district be given their choice for attending nearby schools.
But the proposal drew furious opposition from school backers.
“It’s not about school choice,” Partridge said of the pro-closure campaign. “There are a whole bunch of people who want their kids to be educated right in Windham. When you vote to close the school, you’re taking away their choice.”
Supporters contend that the school’s unique array of programs makes up for what it lacks in extracurriculars. The school has a shed full of cross-country skis for students. Volunteers teach children to play ukulele and recorder, and students go on weekly field trips to a local farm.
Partridge, whose children graduated from Windham Elementary, said the town has the second-lowest property tax rate in its supervisory union. The school has not had a reported case of bullying in nearly 20 years, she said.
Some also fear for the future of the town should the school close.
Alexis Mialkowski, whose son is in his third year at Windham Elementary, said the family bought a house in Windham partly because of the proximity of the school.
Without it, the town “would basically turn into a retirement community,” she said. “I don’t see why any young families would choose to move here.”
Competing viewpoints
The ensuing battle over the school’s future played out over social media, at heated school board meetings and through angry emails.
Some supporters of the school characterized their opponents as newcomers or “outsiders.” Advocates for closing it, meanwhile, argued that many of the school’s backers were out of touch with reality and were wedded to nostalgia about the tiny, rural school.
On Sept. 7, Windham residents turned out to vote in the referendum. When the results came back, it became clear that the issue had torn the community right down the middle: 135 people had voted to keep the school open, while 137 had voted to close it.
A recount affirmed the razor-thin victory for the pro-close camp. But school supporters refused to let that vote stand.
The question on the ballot had been worded confusingly, Partridge said. Some residents “thought they were voting to keep the school open, but they had voted the wrong way.”
She and other anti-closure advocates organized another petition to have a revote. After gathering 111 signatures, she said, the town scheduled another vote for Nov. 2 — election day.
So on Tuesday, for the second time in two months, residents cast their ballots on the future of the school.
This time, the results were nearly exactly reversed: 139 people voted to close the school, while 142 opted to keep it open.
It’s personal
Now, for the time being, Windham Elementary will stay open. But the campaigns have taken a toll on residents.
People on both sides have accused opponents of spreading misinformation. Lawn signs supporting or opposing the closure had been torn out, residents said. And people on both sides agreed that the dispute had ruined friendships and turned acquaintances into strangers.
In a town as small as Windham, “a lot of the attacks that are on Facebook and what have you are very personal,” Partridge said. “And I think that’s unfortunate.”
“There are people who I was actually genuinely friends with who I no longer speak to,” Tips-McLaine said.
Now, some in the pro-closure camp are casting doubts on the results of Tuesday’s election. Kehoe, the Windham parent who is pro-closure, said she knew of several people who cast ballots in the election but are not Windham residents.
Those allegations could not be verified. But Kehoe said she had contacted the Vermont Secretary of State’s office with her concerns.
“We are looking into it,” Kehoe said. “And we are looking to reach out to counsel.”
Asked about claims that nonresidents cast ballots, Partridge said, “Well, I think that could be said for both sides.”
Even if Tuesday’s results stand, residents hoping to close the school still have other options. Next year, they could submit another petition and bring the issue to a vote again.
“I am sure we will petition again next year,” one pro-closure parent wrote in a social media post shared with the Brattleboro Reformer.
Meanwhile, Windham Elementary continues to serve its 16 students. The town is still fractured, people in both camps agree. At a school board meeting, a week before the vote, one resident asked about the possibility of making a counselor available for Windham students since “clearly this vote has stirred up a lot of emotion with families.”
But Parker-Jennings, the Windham Elementary principal, offered a hopeful anecdote.
Not long before Election Day, the school hosted a birthday party for a student, he said. That day, Parker-Jennings believes, family members of every student in school — both pro- and anti-closure — showed up to celebrate.
“So I am cautiously optimistic that hopefully, now that this is settled, at least for this year — that people on both sides can come together,” he said.