Windsor
If approved by the Agency of Education and state Board of Education, voters will have the final say on the agreement later this year.
“Conceptually they have an agreement and now are mapping out a timeline for a vote,” Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union Superintendent David Baker said on Tuesday.
Baker said it is possible the articles will be presented to the state board at its October meeting.
“Most of it is boilerplate language so I don’t expect much pushback from the state,” Baker said.
The proposed merger is an effort to meet the state’s mandates under Act 46, the 2015 education law that seeks to push school district into larger groupings to save money and better serve students.
The respective school boards from both towns approved the articles last week after meeting over the summer to address a range of issues.
The Act 46 committee of the supervisory union’s four school districts voted in June to have Windsor and West Windsor pursue a merger when board members from Hartland and Weathersfield rejected a unified district of all four towns. The primarily objection in those two towns was the loss of high school choice.
The alternative structure has been described as a 2x1x1, with Windsor and West Windsor forming a single district (2) and Hartland and Weathersfield maintaining individual districts. The formulation is not one of the state’s two preferred structures for the supervisory union and therefore needs special approval.
Baker said Hartland and Weathersfield are finalizing their respective reports with a consultant the their efforts to persuade the state to allow them to remain as single-town districts.
Baker said the agreement between Windsor and West Windsor is “pretty simple” and contains about a dozen main items addressing several issues.
One example is board representation. Under a merger, things would remain the same as on the current supervisory union board — three members from each town — despite Windsor having triple the population.
“I think that was quite a concession by Windsor,” Baker said.
Other parts of the agreement include:
West Windsor switching from a floor vote to all-day balloting at the annual school meeting (the town would keep the traditional floor vote).
West Windsor students currently in grade 6 or higher retain school choice the remainder of their K-12 schooling while all students below grade 6 would attend Windsor schools after finishing at Albert Bridge
Any decision to close a school would require a board vote by the new district.
West Windsor’s existing debt would continue to be paid by that town only. The Windsor school district does not have long-term debt.
Windsor School Board member John Tansey said they had “very productive conversations” during their meetings to craft the framework for one district.
“I’m pleased to see we are at a point where we can get something before voters and now we have to see if the communities will support it,” Tansey said.
As for when a vote could take place, Tansey said it should not be rushed and it is important that voters are fully informed before making a decision. The vote has to be held before Nov. 30.
In April, West Windsor defeated a proposed merger with Windsor but changed that position two months later when a proposed new curriculum that would use the outdoors — mostly Mt. Ascutney — for teaching the core subjects of math, science, social studies and English by integrating them with regular student visits to the mountain to learn about forestry, ecology, orienteering, culture, and more.
Baker said that while the articles of agreement are not specific on such a curriculum, they do express support for “place-based” education that promotes teaching using local natural resources, including the mountain and Paradise Park.
West Windsor is also expected to realize significant tax savings with a merger and some of those savings would go toward developing the curriculum, buying material and providing teacher training, Superintendent Dave Baker said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
