School is open again and with it the discussion of the future of our schools is heating up. I strongly support the many comments made by concerned Moretown residents in this paper and in other forums regarding the future of Moretown Elementary School and our town.
We raised our two sons in Moretown and both attended Moretown Elementary School where they received an excellent education in a small-town caring environment that is as strong as any across the country. For many years I served on the Moretown Elementary and Washington West Supervisory Union school boards.
Closing a successfully functioning school in a village center that attracts families and students to a community rips out its soul. The Harwood Unified Union School District Board (HUUSD) has a responsibility to look beyond its narrow assessment of the costs to the broader issues of survivability of our communities, future of our students and your contribution to either the health or demise of the towns you were elected to serve.
The state of Vermont and municipalities expend tremendous effort and financial resources to foster right-sized growth and prosperity in our communities, to attract families and younger generations to a state with an aging demographic, and to build a sustainable economy that is based upon the unique attributes of each city and town.
The Moretown-adopted Town Plan Chapter 4E, Community Facilities and Service, states at policy E-11, “support the continued operation of Moretown Elementary School and its role as a center of community life, while urging state and school officials and administrators to pursue strategies that would stabilize or reduce education costs for town taxpayers.” Policy E-13 states, “support efforts to offer affordable, quality childcare services for all Moretown families, including the continuation of childcare, pre-school, after-school and summer programs at Moretown Elementary School.”
We understand the issues facing supervisory unions and local schools and concur that the move to a consolidated union school district – a larger governing unit – brings many benefits, not the least of which is relieving supervisory union staff of regularly attending multiple school board meetings.
We understand the financial difficulties that arise in the course of establishing a school budget, presenting it to the voters and securing the affirmative votes to implement that budget. The board also should understand that the overall property tax burden on district residents and businesses is dictated far more by state legislative mandates and financing decisions than it is by local budgeting decisions.
Nonetheless, this district’s voters have voted for years to support school budgets. The voters support their schools not only for the school’s sake but also for the vibrancy and bright futures those schools provide to the towns that host them.
In the words of the proposed statewide plan, Act 46, Page 18: “Unified governance is not about closing small schools. It is about providing more equitable, high-quality opportunities and using resources more efficiently by taking advantage of the inherent flexibility of a larger governing entity.”
I strongly urge you to take advantage of the inherent flexibility of a larger governing entity, especially regarding its administration, to be complete in your cost-benefit analysis of closing or renovating school facilities, to take time to include the community in decisions that will affect them for decades to come, and to keep Moretown Elementary School open.
Horn lives in Moretown, Vermont.
