To The Editor:
In the article, "Residents to vote on HUUSD withdrawal," in the February 11, 2021, edition, The Valley Reporter asserts that "specifically, the school board hopes to move Moretown's fifth- and sixth-grade students to Crossett Brook Middle School (CBMS) in 2022 as part of a cost-saving, equitable learning plan. The idea is that by merging all middle school students into one school, the district will drastically reduce operation costs while giving all students the same academic opportunities."
Is this an opinion piece or an informational article? If it is a news article, whose opinion is being espoused in this statement? The HUUSD administration, the HUUSD Board or The Valley Reporter?
When you mention a drastic reduction in costs, I'm curious as to how you came to that conclusion? Surely not by considering the millions of dollars it will cost for the construction of a major renovation/addition to the current space at CBMS. And likely not the several hundred thousand dollars it will cost to erect temporary pods at CBMS while students and teachers wait for said construction. This is at least partly contingent on a $20-$40 million bond passing as well, by the way.
When you mention giving all students the same academic opportunities is the implication that somehow The Valley elementary schools, Moretown School specifically, somehow offer fewer academic opportunities as compared to their counterparts across the district? Again, I ask to whom are you attributing this opinion? Surely not the vast majority of Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren parents and students who are content with, and maybe even excited by, the educational opportunities that are offered by their community schools.
Again, I ask: information or opinion?
Laura Schaller
Moretown
