TUNBRIDGE — Earlier this month, two events took place that could have far-reaching implications for how children are educated in Tunbridge and Chelsea.
On Nov. 12, the First Branch Unified School District, which oversees public schools in both towns, received a report from a district restructuring committee that recommends grouping all of the district’s K-4 students at Tunbridge Central School, and grades 5-8 at Chelsea Public School. Both schools are now K-8 schools.
But two days earlier, Tunbridge resident Rob Howe delivered to his town’s Selectboard a petition calling for Tunbridge’s withdrawal from the district if voters approve at a Special Town Meeting vote.
The Tunbridge Selectboard voted Tuesday night to set a Jan. 9 vote on the petition, which Howe estimated was signed by 10% of the town’s registered voters, double what he needed.
“I certainly didn’t have any problem getting enough signatures,” Howe said in a phone interview earlier in the day.
While some Tunbridge residents have become disenchanted with its partnership with Chelsea, the restructuring committee has proposed “what we believe is a golden opportunity: the chance to provide better educational programs for our children in a fiscally sustainable way,” the report reads.
First Branch currently educates 103 students in Tunbridge and 110 in Chelsea, according to the restructuring committee’s report. Combined, the two schools require 17 teachers.
Under the restructuring plan, there would be 112 children at Tunbridge Central School and 101 in Chelsea, but the district would require only 14 teachers. At the same time, creating larger cohorts, particularly in the middle school, would have a big influence on the curriculum. The report lays the groundwork for changes that would happen in the fall of 2022.
While the First Branch board hasn’t signed off on the plan, Chairwoman Kathy Galluzzo said she’d like to see the restructuring go forward. “I think if we gain some community support, a merger is our best option,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
There is concern among Chelsea residents about sending their youngest children to a school in another town, Galluzzo said.
In surveys, about 48% of respondents said they favored the restructuring plan, while 52% said they didn’t.
Under ordinary circumstances it would be hard to get people to attend school meetings, but the coronavirus pandemic has made it even harder to communicate with the public about the restructuring plan, Galluzzo said.
Howe said he started his petition drive after speaking with Tunbridge residents and with Tunbridge members of the First Branch board. It took three tries for the district to approve a $6.9 million budget for the current school year, and it doesn’t seem there is any interest on the part of Chelsea residents to send children to school in Tunbridge, he said.
Another cost-saving idea that the district’s residents have brought up is the closing of one of the schools, he noted.
“I was concerned that we would lose our campus in Tunbridge,” Howe said. It’s an important community center for the town, he added.
The proposed restructuring, which the committee has been working on since July, hasn’t had much of a public airing, Howe acknowledged.
“I did give that some consideration,” he said. “You would think that the restructuring plan would have been enacted at this point.”
The First Branch board plans to hold a retreat in the coming weeks before taking up the restructuring plan again, Galluzzo said.
“I know community members are feeling pressure,” Galluzzo said. There has been a lot of concern in town that one way to save money would be to close the school building, she said. The restructuring plan is meant to improve education, save money and keep both schools open.
“The board is supportive of the work the restructuring committee is doing,” Galluzzo said. The petition “is something that’s happening on the side right now.”
In the wake of the successful dissolution of the merged district formed by the southern Vermont towns of Halifax and Readsboro, other towns have been in a hurry to take action. Howe said he would have considered holding off until the restructuring plan was aired, but feared the Legislature would make the process of dissolving a district more difficult. If Tunbridge votes to leave the district, Chelsea would have to vote to leave as well, and the state Board of Education would have to approve.
The town of Newbury, Vt., is moving ahead with a vote to leave the Oxbow Unified Union School District, a K-12 merger with neighboring Bradford .
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
