ACT 46 STUDY COMMITTEE
Representing the Brattleboro Town School District, Dummerston Town School District,
Guilford Town School District, Putney Town School District and the Vernon Town School District
http://www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF MEETING
The Act 46 Study Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2016 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Alice Laughlin, Committee Chair
II. REVIEW, PRIORITIZE AND ESTABLISH DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR MEETING BY CHAIRPERSON.
III. REVIEW COMMITTEE MEMBER ROLES AND PUBLIC COMMENTS BY CHAIRPERSON
IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – July 20, 2016
V. REVIEW STUDY COMMITTEE PROCESS BY CHAIRPERSON
VI. RECOGNITION OF GROUPS AND/OR INDIVIDUALS
VII. STUDY COMMITTEE WORK SESSION:
Review School Board Comments (Brattleboro, Dummerston)
Review Proposed Timeline
Review Vernon Vote
Vote on WSESU Act 46 Study Committee Articles / Report
VIII. VOTE AND BALLOT DISCUSSION
Set Draft Schedule for Study Committee Individual Town Presentations
Review Act 46 Town Forum Dates
IX. FUTURE MEETINGS, DISCUSSIONS
X. ADJOURNMENT
Note: In accordance with the following excerpt from WSESU Policy E-12 Electronic Communications Use and Retention
II. Use of E-Mail and Electronic Communications
The school board and administration will not use email as a substitute for discussion at board meetings, or for any business properly conducted at board meetings subject to the Vermont Open Meeting Law.
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Brattleboro Town School District, Dummerston Town School District,
Guilford Town School District, Putney Town School District and Vernon Town School District
Act 46 Study Committee
Work Session Agenda, Minutes & Action Items – July 20, 2016 from 6-8 PM at WRRC-Cusick Room
Present
Brattleboro: Kim Price*, David Schoales**, Jill Stahl Tyler*, Mark Truhan*
BUHS/ BAMS/WRCC: Ricky Davidson*, Ian Torrey* * denotes voting member,
Dummerston: Kristina Naylor** ***, Amy Wall* – Clerk ** denotes alternate voting member,
Guilford: Beth Bristol*, Alice Revis** *** denotes ex officio member
Putney: Richard Glejzer**, Alice Laughlin* – Chair
Vernon: Walter Breau*, Mike Hebert**
Also present
WSESU: Lyle Holiday – Curriculum & Assessment, Frank Rucker – Business Manager, Ron Stahley – Superintendent
Others: BCTV staff, members of the public including Jody Normandeau, Ines McGillion and Shaun Murphy
Committee Guidelines
1. Work sessions will start and end on time.
2. Work sessions will last 2 hours unless decided otherwise by the Committee.
3. Members will give and receive with good intentions.
4. Members will follow “3 before me” as a guideline so all members have the opportunity to speak.
5. Members will conduct Committee business in front of the group.
6. Members will understand that silence on the part of another member does not imply agreement.
7. Members will site sources of evidence during discussion.
8. All members will be included in conversation and no side conversations will be conducted during the work session.
9. Members will stay on topic during discussions and will request the Clerk make note of additional topic(s) for future discussion.
10. Members will engage in the work at hand and administration will provide the space and support as needed to do so.
Agenda Items Led by
– Call to order Alice Laughlin
– Review, prioritize and establish desired outcomes for meeting Alice
– Review Study Committee member roles and public comments by Chair Alice
– Approve of minutes of previous work session – July 6 Alice
– Review Study Committee process by Chair Alice
– Recognition of groups and/or individuals Alice
– Study Committee Work Session Alice, Ron Stahley, Frank Rucker
– Review and Discuss Articles
– Review School Board comments (Putney, Guilford)
– Review Proposed Timeline
– Public Information Campaign – Set Draft schedule for Town presentations Alice
– Draft Schedule for Study Committee Individual Town Presentations Ron
– Future meetings, Discussions Alice
– Adjournment
Work Session Minutes:
Chair Alice Laughlin called the work session to order at 6:01 pm with a review of the agenda. She proposed that the meeting conclude at 7 pm and that public commentary be taken before and after the work session. The Committee members agreed by consensus.
Alice welcomed the public present and opened the floor to the public present who share the following thoughts, concerns and/or ideas:
The need to define clearly the ramifications of not proceeding (for example – the loss of Small Schools grants);
The need to share with all members of the public including families and the elderly the impact on property tax rates and savings (for example – Guilford’s rate in 2016 of $1.8137 could have been $1.7137 if an Accelerated merger had been pursued. Overall savings could have been $195 the first year, $390 the second year and $585 the third year of an Accelerated merger.); and
The concern that the Vermont birth rate in 2015 was the lowest in many years.
On a motion made by Alice Revis, seconded by Kim Price and so voted, the minutes of July 6 were accepted. Beth Bristol abstained from the vote since she was not present.
Alice Laughlin solicited feedback from the Guilford and Putney School Boards who met and reviewed the draft report since the Study Committee’s last meeting. On behalf of the Guilford School Board, Bristol and Alice Revis shared that GTSD has held several public forums to date to inform the Guilford public. The Guilford School board felt it important to keep the language on Leadership Councils as an Article. Ron Stahley confirmed that Article 15 in the most recent July 12 draft includes this language. On behalf of the Putney School Board, Richard Glejzer and Alice Laughlin shared the PTSD members are working with the townspeople to transfer the Putney Town Forest from the school to another entity. Putney School Board members felt it important that the unified board member from Putney attend Putney Central School Leadership Council meetings. The PTSD expressed their appreciation of the Study Committee’s work and their support for the Study Committee to move forward with the report.
Alice Laughlin asked Ron Stahley to review the July 12th draft of the report with the Committee. Ron shared that this latest draft includes changes in wording discussed at the July 6th meeting and has been reviewed by legal counsel of the Study Committee and VT Agency of Education. Ron pointed out changes in the July 12th draft as follows:
1. Page 4 – Cost Implications – the amount of immediate reductions of $100k equals the first three items listed in “Examples of additional cost savings”.
2. Page 6 – Restricted Funds – Wording was made specific to the types of accounts (i.e. “scholarship funds, endowment funds, capital funds…”).
3. Page 8 – Article 9 – The following sentence was added based on input from VT AOE legal counsel: “The ballots shall be commingled.”
4. Page 9 – Article 14 – The following sentence was added based on input from VT AOE legal counsel: “The ballots shall be commingled.”
5. Page 10 – Article 15 – Last paragraph is wording provided by Richard Glejzer as requested by the Committee at its last meeting. This wording has been reviewed and approved by legal counsel of the Study Committee and
VT AOE.
The ensuing discussion centered on the need for unified board members to attend Leadership Council meetings. Study Committee members felt this very important to ensure that local communities’ input is heard by a unified board and needs to be defined in unified board policy. It was suggested that all unified board members be required to attend at least one Leadership Council meeting per school for a broad view of the unified district.
Ron Stahley led a review of the proposed timeline including forums by the Committee in each WSESU member town. When asked by Jill Stahl Tyler, Ron and Alice confirmed that the report will be in its final form at these town forums. This will allow the Committee to explain to voters in each town what they will be voting on. Jill questioned whether the proposed timeline allowed for adequate input. Alice queried Committee members on their individual board’s activities to engage and inform the public. Local schoolboards except Brattleboro have held or will hold at least two public forums by the end of August. Brattleboro representatives will discuss holding public meetings other than regular school board meetings. The following dates were set by the Committee:
Date Time Location Event
8/25 6-8 pm WRCC – Cusick Rm Work session – vote to send report and vote on ballot language
9/8 6-8 pm Putney Central Work session – preparation for SBE meeting and community forums
9/20 TBD TBD Meeting with State Board of Education
9/21 6-8 pm TBD Brattleboro community forum
9/22 6-8 pm Putney Central School Putney community forum
9/26 6-8 pm TBD – Vernon School? Tentative date for Vernon community forum
10/3 6-8 pm Guilford Central School Guilford community forum
10/11 6-8 pm Dummerston Dummerston community forum
Alice Laughlin opened the floor to the public present who share the following:
The comment that Dummerston had a good discussion at a recent community forum;
The need to establish dates with Town Clerks for petitions for candidates of the unified board; and
The concern that comingled votes/ballots, that at large voting will not allow for transparency of local sentiments, that Brattleboro voters will determine all decisions and that at large voting dilutes the minority voice.
Ron Stahley shared that the addition of the “comingled” wording was in response to directions by the VT AOE legal counsel Donna Russo-Savage. Frank Rucker stated that local vote results on candidates and/or ballot language will be provided by Town Clerks as part of their normal process of reporting vote results. Majority vote in total prevails. If the vote of a local town shows other sentiments, then it shows a need for additional outreach by a unified board.
The Committee’s next work session is on August 25 from 6-8 pm in the Cusick Room – WRCC. Agenda items for this work session include:
– Review of the latest draft of the Executive Summary, Articles of Agreement and proposed schedule,
– Review feedback from local boards,
– Possible Action – vote to submit report to VT Agency of Education and State Board of Education and
vote to approve ballot language,
– Discuss the format and information to present to the public and at upcoming community forums, and
– Other related matters, as needed.
On a motion made Beth Bristol, seconded by Alice Revis, and so voted, the work session ended at 6:55 pm.
Action Items before next meeting and Responsible party
Review 7/12/16 draft with local school boards and have feedback for 8/25/16 All
Forward financial and legal questions to Alice at alicelaughlin@rocketmail.com All
Verify that info is posted on Act 46 Study committee page on WSESU website Amy Wall, Barb Nowakowski
Update financial data and list of assets excluded/included in consolidation Frank Rucker
Respectfully submitted, Amy Wall – Committee Clerk
