DOVER — By a 34-14 vote, Wardsboro and Dover voters approved a $5,680,223 budget for the River Valleys Unified School District (RVUSD) for the 2020-21 school year.
The vote came at the annual RVUSD meeting held on Feb. 11 at Dover Town Hall, and came after about 20 minutes of discussion as voters asked for clarification on certain line items in the budget, for which the RVUSD Board provided detailed explanations.
Approximately 60 people from both towns attended the meeting, which lasted one hour, 45 minutes.
In voting for district positions, Robert Backus of Wardsboro was re-elected as Moderator, Andy McLean was re-elected as Clerk for the RVUSD board, and Marco Tallini was re-elected as Treasurer for the RVUSD Board; the stipends for each were also approved. The terms run through June 30, 2021.
A stipend of $2,000 per year for the five RVUSD school directors, and $2,500 for the Chair, was approved by unanimous vote.
Voters unanimously approved giving the RVUSD Board the approval to move up to $200,000, if necessary, from the District's Reserve Fund to offset increases in the Homestead Tax rate, and to also set the annual tuition rate to approved independent schools at $17,900.
Future RVUSD Annual Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday in April in 2021, and on the last Tuesday in March in subsequent years. This was approved by voters after a 30-minute discussion.
Voters of each town will choose one new School Director for a three-year term at their individual Annual Town Meetings on March 3.
Dover voters may vote early or absentee by paper ballot at the Town Clerk's Office, and on the day of Town Meeting at Dover Town Hall. Wardsboro voters will nominate and elect their candidate from the floor. The Wardsboro meeting is held at Wardsboro Town Hall, starting at 9 a.m.
Also at the meeting, state Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, spoke briefly about the concerns and consequences of a study prepared for the Vermont Agency of Education, released in December, 2019, titled “Study of Pupil Weights in Vermont's Education Funding Formula” about the state's education system.
Sibilia and the Board Members urged the voters to read the study, which is posted on the Legislative website at legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Legislative-Reports/edu-legislative-report-pupil-weighting-factors-2019.pdf, and to write letters to lawmakers about how the current educational system has affected the students in their towns.
Sibilia said she welcomes anyone's questions about the study and can be reached at [email protected]. Voters, educators, parents, and guardians were also invited to testify before the various House Committees that are taking up the findings in the report.