To keep the U-32 community informed about the activities of the school board, student representatives on the school board, Elise O’Brien, Kathryn Stauffer, and Lei DeGroot, will provide a monthly update on the board’s activities. This month will be a joint article from January and February.
Over the past month and a half, most board conversations have centered around the budget and possible changes. During the January 7 board meeting, Superintendent Steven Dellinger-Pate explained his work on the third draft of the WCUUSD district budget for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27), with more focus on funding for special education. There are both additions and reductions to different areas in the third budget draft, with the addition of a fifth day of preschool and community connection coverage for the second half of that day. However, the late bus will only run three days next year with this budget, leading to some possible exclusion if parents are unable to pick up their children on those two extra days. He also explained that the district will lose staff no matter what budget is chosen because of declining enrollment, a trend across Vermont. All further budgets are waiting for the town vote on February 10, when Calais and Worcester will choose whether or not to close their elementary schools. If only one decides to close, a very possible outcome, the budget will be closest to 2.A. which may cause inequity between schools.
On January 21, the board discussed potential cuts to faculty at U-32. In addition, Steven, along with Susanne Gann, WCUUSD Business Administrator, presented the third budget proposal. The third budget is based on a three elementary school district. The budget still does not meet all of the board’s parameters, but comes closer than the previous budgets. A five school preschool week was added, as discussed above. Furthermore, there will be intervention support for students based on their needs. Full-time nursing will be available at all the schools, along with full-time librarians, and two full-time school counselors at every school. However, there will be a reduction of a social worker at U-32 and the loss of the Director of Student Services. The reincorporation of the Director of Student Services position back to the U-32 school was then discussed.
During the February 4 board meeting, there was an informal meeting before the real board meeting surrounding the upcoming vote in Calais and Worcester about closing the elementary schools. After, there was public comment, in which one person called for accurate information being shared online. In addition, it was also encouraged that people make sure to fact check all information shared on Front Porch Forum and other sites like it. The second public comment surrounded equity concerns with the budget if the elementary schools close. The school board then went into Executive Session to discuss the Superintendent Evaluation. There was no action taken during the Executive Session. The board then accepted a resignation from a WCUUSD staff member.
Our next article will be out shortly on the town vote.
Thank you for reading.