SOUTH ROYALTON — As the merits of school district consolidation are being debated in Montpelier, a real-life example is unfolding in south-central Vermont.
The state Board of Education this week approved the merger of the Windsor Northwest Supervisory Union and the Orange-Windsor Supervisory Union.
The marriage will happen this summer. At that time, 10 school districts will be run by one supervisory union. This wedding is representative of a new conversation that is happening around Vermont.
At a time when Vermont is trending toward fewer students and taxpayers, the focus of education officials has moved to finding ways to provide an equitable, quality education at an affordable price amid increasing costs.
“A lot of people all over Vermont have begun to have creative conversations about what to do to provide more opportunity for our students,” said Stephen Dale, executive director of the State School Board Association.
Vermont has been called “hyperlocal” because it has 45 supervisory unions, 12 supervisory districts, 273 school districts, 303 public schools, 277 school boards, 1,422 local school board members for just 85,000 students. In recent years, two supervisory unions have consolidated, but more often single districts are also considering mergers. At least one district has combined the supervision of its five elementary schools under a single board.
Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe says that the word consolidation when used with the word governance does not necessarily mean closing schools – in fact, it might mean saving them. The purpose “is to streamline governance to free up resources for the things they [communities] actually care about and in the process they are going to stabilize their tax rate. This might enable them to keep some of what they care about at a much more affordable price,” she said. And that is exactly what the merging supervisory unions anticipate will happen in the very near future.
By increasing their economy of scale, the new supervisory union expects to experience an immediate savings from personnel, office space and software in the area of $314,200.
“Additional savings by specific districts could be achievable as stronger connections are built between districts and opportunities emerge for more efficient deployment of staff,” they wrote in their report to the state board. The district also plans to expand course offerings, professional development and technology resources.
This isn’t just about merging business functions or changing boundary lines, but the creation of a foundation that the supervisory unions hope will enhance the educational experience for the children of the White River Valley and reap exceptional student outcomes, enable strong leadership in the region and be a cost savings over time, according to the chairs of both supervisory unions at Tuesday’s meeting in South Royalton.
Dale spent a lot of time with the conjoined communities as they wrestled with how to chart the way ahead.
“They were an amazing group of people trying to move things forward in what is one of the most challenging regions of Vermont.”
Challenging because they have every kind of structure available, including an independent school – Thetford Academy – in one small geographic area.
“I think what they have done is create a situation where they should see immediate savings, and they built a foundation on which to have a broader conversation on how to create a K-12 system that is a blend of choice and non-choice while treating all the educational resources as a set to benefit all of their students,” he said.
The idea of partnering began after Windsor Northwest’s pre-K-12 student population plunged to around 500 from 2007 to 2012. Initially, AOE suggested Windsor Northwest’s six school districts be distributed among three neighboring supervisory unions. Of those three, only one agreed to consider a merger and that was Orange-Windsor.
Orange and Northwest began building a relationship at a barbecue last summer. All the board members gathered to discuss how coming together could help them provide an education that would engage students in a “vibrant education system that prepares them for college, career and life in a democratic society” and do so equally given the small size of the schools in the various districts. “It has been a really interesting, complex and exciting time,” said Meg Powden, superintendent of Windsor Northwest.
Holcombe commended the two SU’s for taking charge of their own future.
“They have given themselves permission to let go of who they have always been and look toward what they can be,” she said. “I think that is the exact conversation we hope communities are beginning to undertake.”
The newly formed union includes about 1,400 students in 10 towns — Bethel, Granville, Hancock, Rochester and Stockbridge join with Chelsea, Royalton, Sharon, Strafford and Tunbridge. The town of Pittsfield chose to transfer to Windsor Central Supervisory Union.
