BRADFORD, Vt. — As the Oxbow Unified Union School District moves toward a third vote on a proposed budget for the current school year, its board is planning to put on the same ballot an article of agreement that would spell out what the district would have to do to close one of its four schools.
The proposed article, which had been drawn up earlier in the year but put on hold during the confusion of the coronavirus pandemic and later because of the need to keep working on a budget, says that as of July 1, 2020, “the Unified District shall not close any schools within its boundaries unless the Board of School Directors and the electorate of the town in which the school is located vote in favor of closure.”
It also explains that the district would have to hold at least three public hearings about a proposal to close a school and that the electorate, both of the district, which comprises Bradford and Newbury, and the town in which the school is situated would have to approve the closing of a school by a supermajority of 60%.
“It gives a road map for everybody of what the guidelines would be,” School Board Chairwoman Danielle Corti said Tuesday.
The board agreed in principle to hold the vote on the budget and the school closure article on Nov. 24. Oxbow Unified is one of two districts in Vermont that hasn’t approved a spending plan for the 2020-21 school year. The other is First Branch Unified District, which comprises Tunbridge and Chelsea. First Branch will hold its third budget vote on Oct. 19.
The Oxbow board plans to hold a later vote so it can get the school closure article on the ballot, Corti said. The board is likely to hold a special meeting next week to approve the warning for the November vote.
Oxbow voters have twice defeated budgets for the district, which governs the Bradford and Newbury elementary schools, Oxbow High School and River Bend Technical Center. After the second defeat, on Sept. 1, the board cut another $190,000 and now intends to send a $16.9 million budget to voters next month. That’s about $600,000 higher than last year’s spending plan.
The board has set aside for now a separate article setting out whether and how the district could restructure grades because it needs more work.
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
