The first step toward success for the HUUSD Board is to recognize that we are different, and that is OK. Waterbury has a prime location close to I-89, the beautiful Waterbury Reservoir, cute shops and great restaurants, small-town living with all of the modern conveniences. The Valley does not have a lot of modern conveniences, and we like it that way. We know our farmers; we love our access to the great outdoors. On weekends visitors arrive looking to enjoy what we get to enjoy every day and we appreciate the boost to our economy. Small communities are at the heart of The Valley. Our school board members know this, they live here and their role on the school board is to represent their communities and lead our school district in a positive direction.
What might that positive direction look like? It is simple: Embrace what is already here. Warren and Moretown Elementary have great outdoor programs. Fayston would make a great ski school. Waitsfield and Warren have great theater programs. The board needs to take ownership of what our schools offer rather than deferring to the administration. School board members can ask the administration to look at budget cuts in technology. Parents are struggling every day with allure of technology, is it really needed in the classroom, especially in early education? A simple Google search shows how technology is affecting brain development in children, causing anxiety in teens. Parents are looking for a solution; let’s be a part of that solution. Expand the outdoor learning at our elementary schools and reduce technology in the classrooms; it would save us money and make us more attractive.
PENMANSHIP
Bring back penmanship. “Putting pen to paper stimulates the brain like nothing else, even in this age of emails, texts and tweets. In fact, learning to write in cursive is shown to improve brain development in the areas of thinking, language and working memory. Cursive handwriting stimulates brain synapses and synchronicity between the left and right hemispheres, something absent from printing and typing” – New York Times article, “The Benefits of Cursive Go Beyond Writing” by Suzanne Baruch Asherson. This would cost us nothing and we can attract parents who are looking for alternatives away from technology-centered learning.
How about a pay to play program? Common in many suburban school districts, parents pay for their kids to play sports to help supplement the cost of athletics. Kids can come together and fundraise to make it affordable for everyone.
And, lastly but perhaps most important, the school board could direct the administration to take a long hard look at proficiency-based grading. Dan French, our secretary of education, has said the proficiency initiative was not about proficiency grading but about proficiency learning and pointed out that the law doesn’t speak to grading nor does the regulation.
Many parents, me included, have looked into alternative school options. My kids are attending Rice, other parents have moved. The school district cannot afford to have enrollment drop over an initiative that has not proven to be more effective in the long term: over an initiative that has been rolled back in Maine, over an initiative that can put college applications at risk, merit scholarships, athletic scholarships. This would cost us no money to roll back, keep proficiency-based learning in place and up our enrollment numbers which in turn reduces our budget.
Redesign may affect the way our schools look like today, but I cannot and will not support a budget that does not have a solution that will make our schools and communities stronger. I will vote no to a budget that will redesign our school district based solely on cost.
Valerie Bigelow lives in Warren, Vermont.
