GUILFORD — In one of the longest school board meetings in the town's history, voters decided 130-91 to send seventh- and eighth-graders to the Brattleboro Area Middle School starting in the 2013-14 school year.
Since it was built in 1957, the Guilford Central School has educated students in kindergarten through eighth grade before sending them to Brattleboro Union High School for the rest of their secondary education.
The decision to remove the town's middle school came after months of in-depth discussions and meetings among the Guilford school board, the Brattleboro school board, and residents.
During the meeting, which occurred immediately after the Annual Town Meeting at the elementary school Tuesday afternoon, residents presented their views on both sides of the debate for more than two hours before casting their votes on paper, via Australian ballot.
Guilford School Board member Penny Lucier spoke on behalf of the board, which had already decided to endorse sending students to BAMS in a preliminary vote on Jan. 21.
In a statement to voters about the board's rationale, she cited several points, including the benefit to students of being among a greater diversity of people and the benefit to the town of saving money.
But Lucier made clear to voters that the financial components of the decision “were not the major reason anyone of us on the board voted in favor of sending students to BAMS, but just one factor.”
“We [the board] looked at and weighed the benefits for the town as a whole,” Lucier added.
The floor then opened for debate, and residents argued, with nearly every point on both sides of the issue met with applause.
“It's the right time and right thing to do for our children,” said Selectboard member Anne Rider. “I think we owe it to our kids academically and socially to make this move.”
Rider also commended the School Board on driving a “hard bargain” with the BUHS School Board, which has capped the maximum amount of tuition Guilford will have to pay at $230,000 per student for the upcoming school year, $240,000 the year after, and then $270,000 for the 2016-17 school year.
Had a cap not been set, the Guilford school board would have to pay the (WSESU) $429,000.
“After four years I don't think anyone has a crystal ball about what's going to happen,” Guilford resident and BUHS board member Sean Murphy said.
Murphy explained, however, that Guilford would become part of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union for grades 7-12, and that the town would be assessed as a full-fledged member of the school district instead of charged a flat per-student rate for tuition.
Resident Lisa Holderness commented that the tuition that the town would pay to Brattleboro will not be used directly to educate the middle schoolers being sent to BAMS, as no new teachers or staff will be hired as a result.
This “money influx” concerned her and others at the meeting, and Holderness suggested requesting that some of the money be used for a community initiative that would have an impact on Guilford as well as Brattleboro, although no specific ideas were raised.
Diversity of the student population was a central argument of those in favor of sending Guilford students to BAMS.
Mike Szostak, who works at BUHS in dealing with students having educational issues, felt that exposure to such diversity is central to a child's future.
“I've found that there's quite a transition from a small to a large academic environment,” Sostak said. “Some kids struggle with this more than others, but it seems much more sensible to have a more gradual transition to BUHS via BAMS.”
Others expressed concern about the prospect of sending their children to a larger school in a larger town with more potential negative influences and less direct input from parents in the running of the school.
“I appreciate all the hard work that the school board has done, but I as a parent do not support this decision,” Kelly Young said.
“My son is in sixth grade, and his class is the largest it has been since kindergarten, but yet we hear every year that it's an anomaly,” she continued.
“When you look at numbers and make predictions, I think it just isn't accurate,” Young said. “Other parents from other towns will be making decisions about our kids, and I'm not happy with that.”
Carol Jaenson, the former director of the Boys & Girls Club in Brattleboro, although “against sending students to BAMS in [her] heart,” voted in favor of eliminating the town's middle school because of the greater breadth of opportunities available for students at BAMS.
“The temptations and pressures in Brattleboro are far greater than in Guilford, but it's not the school's responsibility but the parents'. I sent my kids to BUHS and they've done fine, but I've made sure to keep a close eye on them,” she said.
“Major changes need to be made here in Guilford, too, that wouldn't cost us any more money, especially more parental involvement,” Jaenson said. “I think the issue is parental involvement, not the school that they're going to.”