WOODSTOCK — An ad hoc group comprised of Mountain Views School District board members, its attorney and community members is working on how to potentially get a new middle and high school built in Woodstock amid ongoing efforts at education reform at the state level.
“I’m a firm believer that we need to build a new hub school no matter what. Either with or without the state,” Bob Crean, a school board member from Pomfret, said at the beginning of a meeting last Tuesday to discuss options for moving forward.
The project has been in a state of flux since district voters rejected a $99 million bond issue to replace Woodstock’s current middle and high school buildings at Town Meeting in March 2024.
The issue fell 6% short of the voter support required to pass.
Located off of West Woodstock Road, Woodstock Union High School and Middle School, has roughly 450 students. The school serves students in Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading and Woodstock.
The proposed 158,000-square-foot, two-story school would include net-zero energy efficient systems, ADA compliant accessibility, and code-compliant fire suppression systems. It would also feature performance arts spaces with improved acoustics, onsite greenhouses and multi-purpose gathering spaces.
The school’s current buildings are in poor condition, a study conducted by the Vermont Agency of Education in 2022 found. Built in the ‘50s and ‘60s, the buildings had sustained a number of structural issues including with the roof as well as electrical, heating, ventilation and septic systems.
The buildings also don’t comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards of accessibility in areas including walkways, water fountains, doorways and door hardware.
In lieu of a full rebuild, the district has addressed these issues in bits and pieces.
In March 2023, the district’s voters approved the replacement of the school’s aging steam system with a $1.3 million hot water heating alternative.
Though the group is committed to finding a solution to the district’s building woes, it is hamstrung by the ongoing efforts at education reform at the state level, said Dina Atwood, the school board’s attorney.
The group’s clearest path forward is to work within the limitations of Act 73, which the Vermont Legislature passed in June, Atwood said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The legislation would consolidate the state’s school districts into larger groupings and restructure the formula for determining education funding.
The Woodstock building project received a preliminary letter of approval by the Vermont Agency of Education in 2024.
For now, it is unclear whether the agency will require the district to obtain new approval given the change in legislation since last year.
Earlier in the year, members of the group discussed alternative modes of funding the project that don’t rely on the state such as raising money by individual towns, Atwood said. But the statute precludes municipalities other than school districts from putting funds towards education expenses.
Group members also considered the possibility of breaking up the unified union district, but that would require state approval, which the district is unlikely to receive, Atwood said.
The unified district also “works quite well for you,” Atwood said. “You have very strong boards. You have a very strong centralized focus about what you’re supposed to be doing.”
The group plans to meet in early August to designate a leader, establish subgroups and talk about further steps.
