I believe strongly that an Act 46 merger will negatively affect the children and the teachers in the Brattleboro schools.
As we all know, Brattleboro has a much higher rate of poverty than other towns in the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, and we also have many families who have been negatively disrupted by the opioid epidemic.
Brattleboro's school board, supported by our Town Meeting representatives, has implemented many programs to help these children, and other children who have learning and emotional disabilities, be successful in school. We have many paraprofessionals in the classroom, after-school tutoring, summer school, and behavioral interventionists. And, this year, Brattleboro added a social worker to specifically address the family issues resulting from the opioid epidemic.
In spite of these additional programs, Brattleboro currently has the lowest school-tax rate of any of the towns in the WSESU.
The consequence of the proposed school-district merger for Brattleboro, Guilford, Dummerston, and Putney? All towns will lose their respective local elementary school boards, and all decisions on policy, curriculum, and finances for all children - from pre-kindergarten through the high school and the Windham Regional Career Center - will...
This year, Windham County residents are lucky enough to have three excellent candidates running for the Vermont state senate. I have decided to support David Schoales, because for several years I have watched him in action as he has served Brattleboro in his role as both a school board...
Several weeks ago, I attended a meeting for Brattleboro residents about the proposed accelerated merger, which the Act 46 Study Committee wants all towns to vote on in June. Very few Brattleboro residents were there because there wasn't a lot of publicity about this meeting. That was unfortunate because this accelerated merger and the articles of association, which will govern this district, will drastically change the ways our schools have been governed. Instead of local town school boards, there will...
At a recent Brattleboro Selectboard meeting, the board voted 3-2 to go ahead and add interest for another $4 million bond for the Police/Fire Station Project to this year's budget. This additional money will be voted upon by Town Meeting members in March. Although I understand the wish of some board members to move this project ahead for the sake of the members of the police and fire departments, I strongly urged them not to do so. Instead, I urged...
I am writing to urge all voters in Brattleboro to get out and vote on April 17 on the town budget. I am a town meeting representative who originally voted in favor of the police/fire proposal because, having toured the facilities, I could see the need. I can still see the need, but I no longer feel that town taxpayers can afford to do all three projects at the same time. Most town meeting reps at the meeting this March...
Many of us who are concerned about the safety and reliability of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee want to make sure that the legislature has ample time to study and discuss all the issues related to the relicensing of ENVY. You can be sure, though, that Entergy will wait until the last minute (having ignored the February deadline) to present a deal that might give some kind of break on rates to Vermonters. Then they will put extreme pressure on the...