BRADFORD, Vt. — Voters in the Oxbow Unified Union School District have approved a plan to purchase land near Newbury Elementary School.
The measure passed by a vote of 50-38 at an in-person meeting, which was held outdoors Tuesday evening behind Oxbow High School in Bradford.
The vote means the district, which comprises Bradford and Newbury elementary schools, Oxbow High and River Bend Career and Technical Center, can spend $68,000 to purchase the land used for its Forest School, a 10-acre plot that has become an outdoor learning resource.
School district officials now have to wait 30 days for a potential appeal of the vote, but then plan to go ahead with the purchase, Danielle Corti, chair of the Oxbow board, said Wednesday.
Newbury Elementary started using the wooded land off Checkerberry Lane, a 5-minute walk from the school, as an outdoor classroom a few years ago on a handshake agreement with landowner John Renfrew. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, that use was restricted because the property was on the market.
The meeting Tuesday was held outside, as well, after district officials decided in late July to hold it there, Corti said. Residents had been asking about safety, she said.
“I think there were still some people who didn’t come and were frustrated by the lack of an opportunity to have an Australian ballot” vote, she said.
But prior to the pandemic, the district had committed to in-person meetings. Corti, a Newbury resident, said it was “invigorating” to hear the debate over the land purchase.
The $68,000 will come out of the district’s undesignated fund balance. Voters approved appropriating money from that source on Tuesday in a voice vote.
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
