Committee Votes Against School District Merger
by Rowan Beck,
November 17, 2011, page 1.....

The CSSU Consolidation and Merger Study Committee met November 8 to vote on whether to recommend the formation of a Regional Educational District (RED). Despite seven months of study with more than 500 hours of meetings, research and analysis, the committee was still split. Russ Caffry, representing the Shelburne School Board, made the motion to form an RED. The vote tied 5/5. Due to Robert’s Rules, the tie vote meant the motion was defeated.
Study Committee Chair Zoe Erdmann of Williston stated in a press release the day after the meeting, “The issues were addressed in great detail. We were thorough in our review of financial and tax implications, local control concerns and, in particular, the value an RED would bring to educational opportunities and learning outcomes for our communities’ roughly 4,500 student population. In the end, the group was divided in its opinion on whether to recommend an RED to our communities as a replacement to CSSU’s current governance design.”
The most encouraging words prior to the vote came from Shelburne community member Chris Kapsalis when he asked, “Do you think this is best for the kids? It is the school boards’ responsibility to vote for what is best for the kids, not (what’s best for) the town.” He waited on his vote until after all school board members had voted. In the initial vote, three abstained. Caffry appeared irritated when he commented, “We sort of shopped for votes around the table.” He had voted “yes.”
CCS School Board member Sue Thibault was the only Charlotte representative at the meeting. Rich Lowrey, Charlotte’s community representative to the Merger Committee, was absent, and two members, when asked, could not recall when he had last been to a meeting. Thibault wrestled with her decision and ultimately voted “no.”
Thibault made numerous points throughout the meeting. She said that a board smaller than the 18-members proposed would be more efficient and wasn’t “sure if this is the right thing at the right time.” She was not alone in her opinion. Hinesburg was divided, with Colleen MacKinnon, Hinesburg School Board member, voting for the RED, while Lisa Falcone, also a board member, voted “no.” However, both said that the issue should be brought to the town for a vote.
A difficult question for all of the participants was how to “sell” the idea to the communities, especially the smaller towns of Charlotte and Hinesburg. Under Act 153, the state law governing the formation of an RED, the process must honor the will of the majority while protecting the rights of the minority. If a smaller town does not want to take part, it does not have to, in which case it would then stand alone. Russ Caffry asked, “How do we get around the tyranny of a small town to control the formation of the RED?” Later a Hinesburg representative responded with a comment about “the tyranny of larger towns” that had larger representation.
The committee continued to have questions about the RED after the numerous hours of research and discussion. According to Caffry, they knew “it wouldn’t fly unless Charlotte and Hinesburg had the same number in representation” on a consolidated board. Several members felt that too much information was based on assumptions to make a clear decision. During the vote, both Hinesburg and Williston were split in their decisions. When Thibault cast her “no” vote, she said, “We can work on governance; can do it now. That’s what we should do.” It was evident that people in the community had reached out to her via e-mail as throughout the evening she cited examples of questions she had received.
At the end of the meeting, CSSU Superintendent Elaine Pinckney congratulated the group for its efforts, saying, “No group has been smarter about this.”

See further Commentary on page 2 from Sue Thibault.