WESTMINSTER — Westminster voters, along with those from Athens and Grafton, all voted down the proposed Act 46 school-district merger based on the “preferred model” structure. Other towns throughout the state also voted down merger plans.
We now hope to explore alternative governance structures that are outlined in Act 46, although the exact process for next steps is not completely clear.
We invite school board members, Selectboard members, and the public from all surrounding districts to a forum in early May where we can explore what any of us know about alternative governance structures, generate questions we have about next steps related to Act 46, and share any ideas people have for meeting the goals of the legislation in an alternative structure.
While ultimately we think many districts may end up working with their nearby districts in their current respective supervisory unions or union high school districts, we think meeting at least once can let us learn together, share our best thinking, and make connections that may help us best serve our children and our communities.
You don't need to have your whole board join in on this forum - anyone is welcome. We will warn it as an open meeting for our district, and if a quorum of your board will attend, we believe it should be warned for you as well.
Please respond to me at info@vermontshepherd.com to express your interest in being part of this forum (or even to tell us you have no interest in being part of this work going forward).
We are inviting all boards in Windham County (and anyone else interested). We will be getting back to all interested parties about the exact timing for this forum. We hope you can join us.