Welcome to the Addison Northwest SU District Unification Public Forum
Dear Citizens of the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union:
Thank you for taking part in our recent Renewal for Public Education Forums. We appreciate the time you took to share your values, concerns, and questions about our educational system and its future, all of which is reflected in the final report produced by Vermont Council of Rural Development and presented to the ANWSU Board of Directors at their meeting on January 13, 2010. Following the presentation, the Board agreed to move forward with its recommendation to form a Unified Union.
Now, it is our turn to explain to you why we think this is a very important change for us to make. We intend to answer your questions and address your concerns .
This is a public forum where you can ask questions or voice concerns. Feel free to leave a comment. You are required to enter your name and email address. However, your email address will not be published.
February 16, 2010 at 6:17 pm |
Hey, just wondering if you had figured out what happens to individual capital accounts that the schools have. Will they stay part of each building or be combined and absorbed by the union?
February 18, 2010 at 1:57 pm |
Kathy,
The accounts will stay with the individual school buildings. Down the road, we would have capital accounts for the new school district to be utilized for all district facilities or another stated purpose.
Tom
February 20, 2010 at 8:32 pm |
I have two questions.
1. I am an Addison resident and I am worried that with Addison only having two members and Vergennes and Ferrisburgh having a combined 8, that things concerning Addison Central School will be overlooked. How can we be sure that all four schools get the attention they deserve?
2. With enrollment continuing to decline, who will decide if one of the schools has to close? Will it be this new unified board, the residents of the town considering to close the school, or the residents of all 5 towns?
February 22, 2010 at 1:10 pm |
Jonathan:
In response to your questions,
1. The number of representatives from each town is determined by law and based on the principle of “one man, one vote”. We can be sure that all schools will get the attention they deserve because each will belong to the same school district. The board will make educational decisions based upon a PK-12 program that serves all students regardless of the town of origin or the location of facilities.
2. Closing the school will be a decision of the new board and will be based upon whether or not the facility is necessary to the provision of the educational program. The use of the facility for program needs may change over time because of declining enrollment and may, at some point, not make educational or economic sense to continue operation as an educational facility. At that point, the facility would be be returned to the town.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Tom
March 1, 2010 at 5:46 pm |
I was wondering whether becoming a unified school district will change the way our school taxes are calculated and would this make the Addison school taxes go up?
What possible changes to the school curriculum do you forsee?
March 1, 2010 at 11:33 pm |
Jon:
Becoming a unified union will not change the way your taxes are calculated; that would require a change in the state law regarding tax rate calculations. However, a unified union would cause a decrease in the tax rate for Addison primarily due to the fact that the student count would be greatly expanded.
For the immediate future, changes to the curriculum would likely be few; mainly, tweaking our current programs for improvements.
Hope this is helpful!
May 18, 2010 at 1:04 pm |
I would like to request that the “full report” that started unification be placed on this web-site. Thank you, Carol Kauffman
May 18, 2010 at 5:45 pm |
Carol:
A link to the previous governance study is available on the anwsu.org
website. The “final report” is the executive summary of the findings of the study committee between spring of 2004 through spring of 2005.
The articles of agreement served as the required report to the state. I believe you have already received ca copy of each. If you have further questions, please let me know.
Tom
May 19, 2010 at 2:34 am |
Could you direct me to the link to the previous governance study. Sorry, I must be overlooking it. Yes, I have a copy of the articles of agreement and the six page executive summary. I’m looking for the report in which the executive summary was taken from. Paul Boivin said that he saw it at your office. I’d like to see it put on line. It’s hard to get to your office during hours. Thanks, Carol
June 1, 2010 at 1:08 pm |
Thank you for all the information you have made available to the public.
I would like to continue to request the report from which the executive summary(6 pages) came from. I believe Ray Proulx was the author and consultant.
thanks, Carol
June 8, 2010 at 2:21 pm |
I would like to request the minutes for November 30th, 2004. These minutes are missing in the on-line original governance study. If the Ray Proulx report cannot be offered on-line, then I would like to personally request a copy. I will pay for the printing. Thanks, Carol