The board has scheduled a second public meeting to take place on July 19th. We will conduct school board business starting at 6:00 PM and will move to long range planning at approximately 7:00 PM.
The board has discussed the ideas generated at our May 18th meeting. We feel that the process should move toward identification of a range of realistic short and longer term options or action items. In an effort to move in that direction, we have discussed the following alternatives;
- Do nothing or status quo. Under this scenario we would make virtually no change to our program or staffing.
- Program adjustments in reaction to declining enrollment that allow the board to achieve cost containment and “customer satisfaction.”
- Privatization.
- Consolidation of governance and/or school to include exploration of tuitioning and school choice.
As we move toward a study of options available to the board we feel strongly that any action must support our school’s mission. Accordingly, we have asked Marta and the staff to review our existing mission statement and to propose any adjustments they see as beneficial.
We have also asked Lee Sease to provide us with historical information on our cost per equalized pupil (the most direct reflection of education property tax rates) along with our enrollment and staffing history.
Your input is critical to our success in this important work. The outline of options we have identified is meant to guide and advance our community discussions. Please feel free to bring your thoughts on these issues as well as any perspectives that you feel we may have overlooked. We look forward to your continued participation and attendance at our July 19th meeting.
Professor Elder will look at some of the ways in which Robert Frost’s poetry both explores and is illuminated by the forests of Vermont. Frost was an excellent naturalist, whose ability to perceive seasonal change in the landscapes around him also brought a measure of stability to his intense inner life. Those of us who are privileged to live in the same place where one of the century’s greatest poets once worked are truly blessed.
