CSSU Merger Committee Votes “No” to Consolidated District
by Rowan Beck,
November 8, 2011…..

The CSSU Consolidation and Merger Study Committee met this evening to vote on whether or not to recommend the formation of a Regional Education District (RED). After more than 500 hours of meetings, research and analysis, the committee was split. Russ Caffry, representing the Shelburne School Board, made the motion to form a RED. The vote tied 5/5. Due to Robert’s Rules, the tie vote meant the motion was defeated.

Prior to the vote, Shelburne Community member Chris Kapsalis 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. Russ Caffry appeared irritated by the vote when he commented, “We sort of shopped for votes around the table.” He had voted “yes.”

Sue Thibault was the only Charlotte representative at the meeting. Rich Lowrey, the Charlotte community representative, was absent and two members, when asked, could not recall when he had last been to a meeting. Sue wrestled with her decision and ultimately voted “no.” She made numerous points throughout the meeting. She felt that a smaller consolidated board than proposed would be more efficient and wasn’t “sure if this is the right thing at the right time.” 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 she cited throughout the evening examples of questions she had received.

CSSU Superintendent Elaine Pinckney congratulated the group for their efforts, commenting, “No group has been smarter about this.”

Below is the official statement released November 9 by the CSSU about the merger vote:

CHITTENDEN SOUTH SUPERVISORY UNION

PRESS RELEASE

NOVEMBER 9, 2011

The Chittenden South Supervisory (CSSU) Union Regional Education District (RED) Study Committee voted to “not recommend” the formation of a Red following seven months of discussion. The committee of twelve representing the communities of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Saint George, Shelburne and Williston will finalize a communication to the Commissioner of Education indicating it has determined it is “inadvisable to form a RED at this time.” The committee was established by the CSSU Board, following a supervisory union board discussion required by Act 153 – a law enacted in July 2010 promoting voluntary school district mergers.

While committee members saw merit to certain aspects of replacing the current structure of seven school boards with a single school board governance structure, the reasons were not compelling enough to generate a majority vote supporting moving forward with a recommendation to the State Board of Education. Such a recommendation would have led to all communities voting on the question of forming a RED at a future date. The State Board of Education reserves the right to request the Study Committee to further investigate the concept.

Study Committee Chairperson, Zoe Erdmann of Williston stated, “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 a 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 a RED to our communities as a replacement to CSSU’s current governance design.”

“The Committee acknowledged many of the efforts over the past 15 years that have resulted in greater cost efficiencies and improved educational program coordination for students Prekindergarten – Grade 12. CSSU has a history of successful collaboration and coordination among its community schools. The gains of creating a RED were ultimately not viewed as compelling by the majority of the Committee. However, the Committee will also formalize a list of other recommendations for the CSSU Board that may further improve operational and educational services given the existing governance and administrative structure.”

A final report will be completed in the next few weeks and finalized by the Study Committee prior to being forward to all of the school boards within CSSU and the Commissioner of Education.

Contact Information: Zoe Erdman @ zerdman@comcast.net

CHITTENDEN SOUTH SUPERVISORY UNION
5420 SHELBURNE ROAD, SUITE 300, SHELBURNE, VT 05482
TELEPHONE 802-383-1234 FAX 802-383-1242
www.cssu.org