The Act 46 Study Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 5/11 in Putney has been cancelled. The next meeting will be Thursday, May 26.
Attached are minutes from 5/4.
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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 – May 4, 2016 7-9 PM Academy School
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 Mark Speno, Jeri Curry, Erin Tkaczyk, Eric Feindel,
Shaun Murphy, Marilyn McQuaide, Bob Woodward, Thomas Ehrenberg, Ines McGillion, Jody and Paul Normandeau, Chris Mays/Reformer, Mike Faher/VT Digger
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 – April 25 and April 27 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 and discuss Articles – Comments from all WSESU boards
– Review and discuss Ballot language
– Act 46 Implementation Project meeting – Discussion Alice, SC members present
– Review Proposed Timeline Alice
– Public Information Campaign – Set Draft schedule for Town presentations Alice
– Future meetings, Discussions Alice
– Adjournment
Work Session Minutes:
Chair Alice Laughlin called the work session to order at 7:04 pm with a review of the agenda. She welcomed the public present and the Committee agreed to provide the time for public input as noted on the agenda with additional time near the end of the meeting. On a motion made by Ricky Davidson, seconded by Kim Price and so voted, the minutes of the April 25 meeting with the Act 46 Implementation project meeting were accepted. Committee members abstaining from the vote because they were not at this meeting were Jill Stahl Tyler, Kim Price, Ian Torrey, Beth Bristol, Richard Glejzer and Alice Laughlin. On a motion made by Jill Stahl Tyler, seconded by Mark Truhan, the minutes of the 4/27/16 work session were accepted with corrections.
Alice shared communication from the Vernon School Board regarding their withdrawal from the Study Committee and recent actions. The Study Committee is looking for VT AOE response to Vernon’s actions.
Alice opened the work session to public comment. Thoughts, comments and/or concerns touched upon the following:
– the tight timing for a June 28 vote by the electorate and
– the differences between the 4/28/16 and 5/3/16 working drafts of the Executive Summary and Articles of Agreement.
Alice Laughlin and Ron Stahley clarified that the content of the 5/3/16 working draft remains true to the 4/28/16 working draft and incorporates language required to meet statutory requirements per legal counsel Chris Leopold.
Alice Laughlin queried the Study Committee members to confirm that all local school boards had reviewed the Articles of Agreement. All WSESU member school boards have reviewed recent versions of the working draft dated 4/28/16 and/or 5/3/16.
Alice Laughlin and Ron Stahley reviewed the May 3, 2016 working draft of the Executive Summary with Articles of Agreement and highlighted new language and any changes recommended by legal counsel.
Executive Summary: In the last paragraph on page 3, the last sentence was changed to: “The property tax relief will lessen the burden on taxpayers.” On page 4 under “Cost Implications”, the third paragraph beginning with “Reductions in the…(see Appendix A)” was removed.
Article 1: All WSESU member districts are declared as necessary. Voting language is for the Accelerated model only. If no Accelerated merger with all districts as necessary, then the Committee will regroup and could possibly present a vote to the electorate in November of the Conventional model. This would require the dissolution of the BUHS district or a vote of the electorate to release Vernon from BUHS district. Allowing the electorate to vote on the Accelerated option makes their respective community’s sentiment clear. Despite Vernon not present at work sessions, a simple majority vote by the Study Committee is needed to send the report to the VT AOE and SBE. According to legal counsel, Vernon Select and School Boards do not have the authority to prevent a vote of the Vernon electorate from taking place should the Study Committee approve the report.
Article 2: Language was condensed by legal counsel and continues to include school choice to Vernon’s currently enrolled Grade 7-12 students is included.
Article 3: The heading “Employee Contracts and Collective Bargaining Agreements” was missing. The Committee confirmed that no further discussion was needed.
Articles 4: The Committee confirmed that no further discussion was needed.
Article 5: The Committee confirmed that no further discussion was needed.
Article 6: The Committee confirmed that no further discussion was needed.
Article 7: For item A, Alice Laughlin stated that an index of identified properties might be appropriate (i.e. PTSD – Putney Town forest, BTSD – Crowell lot). Kristina Naylor stated that Dummerston may want to retain ownership of its playing fields and asked about timing. Ron Stahley stated that this work needed to be completed as soon as possible. If the properties are not transferred to other parties (i.e. the respective town) by 7/1/17, then additional language needs to be added. For item D, this is the same language in a consolidated form per legal counsel. The Committee agreed that the following wording should be included: “School closure considerations would have to go through one year of study and public discussion before the unified board can vote.” The specific process for this one year of study needs to be added as an Appendix.
Article 8: Based on previous discussions, the hybrid model with 9 members was included.
Article 9: The Committee agreed that directors should be elected for 3 year terms and that the initial elections for directors should be 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. Four year terms for directors were deemed too long.
Article 10: This is new language required by statute. Directors are elected on the same day as the merger vote.
Article 11: This is new language required by statute. This article establishes the new supervisory district and reaffirms existing SU policies will remain in place. Current SU policies were adopted by all WSESU member districts 4-5 years ago.
Article 12: This is new language required by statute. This wording was taken from Article 2 in previous working drafts and clarified. The new Supervisory District board starts establishing procedure as local School Boards continue to operate during the transition time.
Article 13: This is the same wording as in the 4/28/16 working draft. Instead of an annual meeting like BUHS, legal counsel Chris Leopold suggested use of an Australian ballot vote for budget approval. This ensures that voters in each town have a voice in the democratic process. Budget informational meetings In January would happen prior to the Town Meeting day vote on the unified district budget.
Article 14: This article was intentionally left blank until it was decided to use the Australian ballot. There was no discussion by the Committee.
Article 15: The Committee agreed that wording moved to Appendix B should be returned.
Article 16: The Committee agreed that the last sentence in the first paragraph should be struck: “After July 1, 2018… within the Unified District.” Ron Stahley confirmed that transportation for transfer students within the unified district would need to be addressed. The Committee agreed that language on capacity from the 4/28/16 working draft (page 4) should be included.
Article 17: This is new language required by statute. The Committee agreed that language on capacity from the 4/28/16 working draft (page 4) should be included.
Article 18: This is language based on current SU policy regarding school use. The Committee agreed to strike the first sentence and add “… and local Leadership Council.” at the end of the last sentence.
Appendix A – Financial Data/Tax Impact: This was intentionally left blank and information will be inserted.
Appendix B – Local Advocacy through School Based Leadership Councils: The Committee agreed that this wording needs to be returned to Article 15 and that the third to last line on page 11 should include the addition of “… and faculty following statute and resulting protocols;”. On page 12 – first paragraph, wording about the student member and appropriateness of their participation (i.e. executive session – student and/or staff matters, etc.) needs to be clarified. In last paragraph, the final sentence should be moved in front of the previous sentence.
Richard Glejzer expressed concern about a vote on the report tonight. Chair Alice Laughlin advocated for a vote tonight since it shows the Committee’s commitment to the SBE/AOE, was advised by the AOE and Articles can be adjusted up to the time it is presented to the SBE. In the ensuing discussion, it was confirmed that a vote tonight does not allow the Committee to review and seek an alternative path. With information from the AOE, Richard suggested that the 5/11/16 work session would be an appropriate time to decide to proceed with the Accelerated path or pursue Conventional path by releasing Vernon from BUHS. From questions asked by Jill Stahl Tyler, it was confirmed that public input cannot be incorporated into the Articles of Agreement after it is approved by the SBE.
With the approval of the Study Committee, Alice Laughlin opened to floor to public comment which included:
– a request to not “rush”,
– the need for legal opinion regarding Vernon,
– a request to be open to a broader array of options and
– the request to take the Accelerated option to the voters.
Petition language for unified board positions was reviewed and discussed. On a motion made by Mark Truhan, seconded by Ricky Davidson, and so voted unanimously, the petition language was accepted with minor edits and released. Barb Nowakowski has been working with Town Clerks and will forward this information to them.
Approval of the 5/3/16 working draft and its submission to the AOE/SBE was discussed. On a motion by Jill Stahl Tyler, seconded by Amy Wall, and so voted unanimously, “The WSESU Act 46 Study Committee respectfully requests that the VT AOE provide their determination on the legality for moving forward given the recent communications from the Vernon School board.” With this motion, the Committee agreed to allow Ron Stahley to forward the 5/3/16 working draft with edits to the VT AOE for preliminary review and feedback.
The proposed time line with upcoming work sessions is:
– TBD Petitions available from Town Clerks for unified board positions
– 5/11/16 Work session at Putney Central School
– 5/17/16 If approved, submit report to and meet with State Board of Education
– 5/18 to 6/27/16 Town forums with local boards
– 5/19/16 First day to post Warning for Town School districts
– 5/19 – 5/23/16 WSESU Board meeting and/or Special meetings of local boards to sign Warning Articles
– 5/23/16 Work session from 6-8:00 pm at Vernon Elementary
Last day to file petition for unified board positions
– 5/29/16 Last day to post Warning for Town School Meeting
– 6/8/16 Early ballots available from Town Clerks
– 6/18/16 Last day to post sample ballots and voter information
– 6/22/16 Last day (by 5 pm) to register to vote with Town Clerks
– 6/27/16 Last day (by 5 pm) to request early ballots from Town Clerks
– 6/28/16 Electorate vote
Agenda items for next meeting include:
– Review of Articles of Agreement with feedback from local boards, possible action
– Discussion of format and information for the public and possible town forums
– Other related matters, as needed.
On a motion made by Beth Bristol, seconded by Kristina Naylor, and so voted, the work session ended at 9:30 pm.
Action Items before next meeting and Responsible party
– Forward financial and legal questions to Alice at alicelaughlin@rocketmail.com All
– Forward items to attach to report to Amy Wall at amhbeg@gmail.com All
– Verify that info is posted on Act 46 Study committee page on WSESU website Jill, Barb Nowakowski
– Provide financial data and list of assets excluded/included in consolidation Frank
– Forward updated draft to VT AOE for preliminary review Ron
– Review Executive Summary and Articles of Agreement with local boards and All
collect comments for next work session
Respectfully submitted, Amy Wall – Committee Clerk
