Important Questions

WE DESERVE ANSWERS ABOUT HOW THE PROPOSED MERGER WOULD IMPACT OUR COMMUNITIES!

October 13, 2022

The list below is a compilation of questions that we believe should be addressed to the Merger Study Committee and to the MAUSD and ANWSD Boards and Superintendents, at upcoming meetings.


  1. If the merger is approved, how much debt from ANWSD will the 9 towns of the new merged district be assuming? How much debt from MAUSD will the 9 towns of the new merged district be assuming?


  1. Transportation: The School Districts and the Merger Study Committee have commissioned 2 different transportation studies. These studies model how the school transportation systems would work, and what they would cost, if the high schools and middle schools were merged.

Version 1 of the Transportation Study, completed in November, 2021, modeled a merged high school in Bristol, and a merged middle school, including all 6th graders, in Vergennes. The results of this study by the Merger Study Committee as part of its July 2022 report to the Vermont Agency of Education.

Version 2 modeled two different approaches to transportation: 2A modeled a merged high school in Bristol and a merged middle school, including all 6th graders in Vergennes. 2B modeled a merged high school in Vergennes and a merged middle school including all 6th graders, in Bristol.

  1. For each of the 3 options modeled (Versions 1, 2A, and 2B) what would be the additional cost to MAUSD towns, and what would be the additional cost to ANWSD, over current costs for transportation?

  2. For each of the 3 options modeled (Versions.1, 2A, and V.B), for both MAUSD and ANWSD what would be the changes (compared to the schedules now) to start and end times for Middle and High School?

  3. What percentage of MAUSD and of ANWSD students 7-12 students currently have bus rides over 45 minutes one way? For each of the 3 options modeled (Versions1, 2A, and 2B) what percentage of MAUSD and of ANWSD 7-12 students would have bus rides over 45 minutes?

  4. What percentage of MAUSD and ANWSD 6th graders currently have bus rides over 45 minutes one way? For each of the 3 options modeled (Versions.1, 2A, and 2B) what % of MAUSD and ANWSD 6th graders would have bus rides over 45 minutes?

  5. For each of the 3 options modeled (Versions.1, 2A, and 2B), what is the RANGE of route times?


  1. Governance

Our experience with Act 46 consolidation has indicated that merging governance has led to less financial transparency; less board oversight; less communication between the schools and the board that governs them; less communication between community members and the board; less authority of principals for budgeting and for hiring and supervision of staff; and more top-down decision making. In light of this experience, what leads you, and what should lead us, to believe that further consolidation and merging of governance will be an improvement?


  1. How much in school district funds has the Merger Study Committee spent on advocating the passage of the merger proposal? What leads you to believe it is ethical to use public funds to advocate for merger?


  1. If equity is as important as many have stated, why would you include an article of agreement in your plan that allows for school choice across elementary schools, without providing for transportation? Doesn’t this policy mean that school choice will only be available to some families, but not others? Do you see that as equitable?


  1. If your purpose is honestly to protect elementary schools from closure,

    1. why did you include an article that authorizes the new merged board to move up to 3 full grade levels out of one elementary school into another elementary or middle school, as soon as the first year of operation?

    2. why did you include an article that gives the board the authority to close an elementary school, after the first 4 years, without an affirmative vote of the town where it sits?


  1. If you were really listening to community voices, why wouldn’t you include an article of agreement that would protect town’s right to vote before a school could be closed?


  1. The Boards and MSC claim that declining enrollment is the cause of our districts’ financial problems. In light of the fact that student enrollment has been declining across Vermont, not just in our region, what are your hunches about why MAUSD and ANWSD are seeking such a radical move as merging, while other districts around us are not?


  1. We all seem to agree on two goals: increasing educational opportunities for middle and high schools students, and solving the financial challenge facing our school district. Other than merging, what approaches to meeting these goals have you considered and studied in depth?


  1. You claim that the financial challenge you are seeking to solve has been caused by declining student enrollment in the context of a state funding system that was designed when enrollment was increasing.

a. What evidence do you have that this merger won’t make the problem of declining enrollment worse? If the merger is approved, what evidence do you have that new families won’t avoid settling here, in order to avoid sending their kids to distant schools on long bus rides?

b. What evidence do you have that this merger won’t lead to a decline in property values?

c. What has prevented you from working with the communities you serve to implement comprehensive and systematic strategies to increase student enrollment?


Upcoming Opportunities to ask these and other questions:

Oct. 18, 6pm: public Q&A at Mount Abraham High School, and on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83287338096?pwd=NzZKZTQyeVZVTy93Ym8wZzJmOXFOZz09 Meeting ID: 832 8733 8096

Passcode: MAUSD


Oct. 19, 6pm: public Q&A at Vergennes Union High School and on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83194110348?pwd=NFVqK0FLOGwrUUlwZ1p2VGczZ1Ewdz09 Meeting ID: 831 9411 0348

Passcode: 1WZJed


Nov. 1, 6pm: Combined informational event with in-person locations at Holley Hall in Bristol and VUHS in Vergennes as well as Zoom.