Дистрикт Чамплейн начал изучение слияния и создания кооператива в рамках штатных реформ

The Champlain Valley School District is beginning to tackle tasks set out by last year’s statewide education reforms. The district will study the possibility of a merger with another district and collaborate with a larger regional network, called a cooperative education service area, to consider sharing some services and resources. The legislation — Act 170 — has paired Champlain Valley with the Mount Mansfield Union Unified School District to study a merger between the two. The two districts have been named to the broader “Champlain Valley South,” service area, which also includes the majority of Addison County’s school districts, including the Hannaford Technical Center in Middlebury. The merger studies and the creation of the service area groups are mandated by law. Whether or not the districts actually merge, and what services end up being shared, will be decided later by voters. “To me, it seems like we are moving down a continuum of voluntary consolidation, voluntary mergers to less voluntary consolidation to address rising costs across the state,” CVSD Superintendent Adam Bunting said, referencing not only Act 170, but also laws passed in 2015 and 2010 that pushed district and administrative mergers. While the board has stated it will enter into the study in good faith with MMU, the tone from board members, in general, to the idea of a full merger was resistance. “We were by ourselves until two days before the end of the session, and at the very end, they decided that they did not want us to be by ourselves, and they paired us with MMU with no rationale whatsoever,” board chair Meghan Metzler said of the Legislature, adding that she was still happy to talk with MMU. Keither Roberts, a director from Hinesburg, said plainly that he personally had no interest in merging with any other district. Both Mount Mansfield and Champlain Valley have more than the 2,000 students the state has identified as the goal for a baseline district population. Additionally, Metzler said, the districts combined cover 405 square miles. For example, the drive between the two high schools — Mount Mansfield Union is in Jericho — is about 30 minutes. The board named Metzler (Charlotte), its vice-chair Dave Connery (Shelburne) and Erin Henderson (Williston) to the merger committee. Mount Mansfield, the smaller of the two districts, will have two members on the committee. “We’re engaging communities. We’re determining a merger advisability and then developing a proposal. If it’s recommended, that proposal then goes to the secretary of education,” Bunting said. Board members were much more positive about the possibilities of the cooperative education service area. Metzler noted that the cooperation could be useful for sharing specialized services that are utilized by high numbers of students and back-end administrative tasks. Earlier this summer, the board named Bunting as its representative to the cooperative board. He told the board at its Aug. 18 meeting that, on top of organizing some leadership structure, the group is currently researching how other similar boards operate in New York, working toward resource mapping — figuring out what all of the districts already offer for services in order to determine how to cooperate — and eventually will develop a financial model through which it could operate. It’s a lot of work, Bunting said. “A lot keeps getting added to public schools and public education, and our administrators and our boards, and nothing is being taken away,” Metzler said. They’re here — the results of our annual 4393 Awards! Readers of our newspapers voted for their favorite restaurants, bars, ski shops, fitness pros, nonprofit organizations and so much more. We present this special section to our readers — both locals and visitors — and we hope you will enjoy it and refer to it throughout the year. Local news is important. It's the information that will directly impact your life because it’s going on around you, every day. Join our group of dedicated readers today ... Connect With VTCNG News, arts, events, community and more from the Vermont Community Newspaper Group. Sign Up For Our Newsletter Our free weekly newsletters deliver the latest headlines, upcoming events and local information — straight from the newsroom! Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Sign Up For Our Newsletter Our free weekly newsletters deliver the latest headlines, upcoming events and local information — straight from the newsroom! Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.