Students who are members of the Brattleboro Union High School Student Advisory Committee include Willow Sharma, Jude Anders, Maeve Bald, William Lin, Indigo Rosenzweig-Davidovits, Eason DeMarsico-Thorne, Theia Wepaloki, Riley Bristol, Elijah Kitzmiller, and Eli Welch, who collectively sent this letter to Gov. Phil Scott. Deborah Stanford and Tim Maciel of the Windham Southeast School District school board are the committee advisors.
BRATTLEBORO-Dear Gov. Scott: We are the Brattleboro Union High School Student Advisory Committee, an organization of about a dozen students who work to bridge the gap between students, staff, administration, and the WSESD School Board.
In general, we focus on local issues, but in light of recent statewide proposals - including your "Transformative Education Plan" - we feel compelled to sound the alarm across Vermont.
At every level, we strive to give every student a voice in the issues that concern them to ensure they are recognized as a person, not a number. We feel that these guiding principles have been minimized or forgotten altogether in far too many recent conversations. Students are the biggest stakeholders in any changes to the education system, and their voices must be heard and valued.
We do not see this happening.
* * *
Vermont has one of the greatest public education systems in the country. Families choose to move here for our schools. We urge you to keep this in mind when making these dramatic changes. The goal of attracting more young people to the state will not be achieved by restructuring the education system. And remember that schools, regardless of their size, are often fundamental to small-town communities, too.
There may be a time and a place for consolidation but, at minimum, there needs to be clear evidence behind it. We must be positive that closing a school or combining districts will save money and improve student experiences.
There are places where elementary school students have to travel excessive distances on the bus every day, yet there has still been none of the promised analysis of Act 46's efficacy.
What will happen when we increase the time a kid needs to sit on the bus? What about transportation during bad weather, like winter, when the roads aren't the safest? Especially during Vermont's prominent spring season, mud runs already make bus rides incredibly long for rural students. This plan will only increase the time kids spend on the bus.
Transportation is already hard for many families. This plan will also be taxing on parents who need to pick up students who participate in after-school events. Added driving time can make a big difference for low-income families and those with strict work schedules.
This plan includes the expansion of school choice vouchers, which doesn't allow every student to succeed. Instead, it exacerbates inequity by diverting public funds away from struggling schools and often into the hands of private schools.
The administration also proposes a minimum class size of 25 for grades 4 through 12. What will the average class size be? Having been in some large classes ourselves, 25 students per class feels uncomfortably large. A class of 30 or 35 wouldn't even fit in most rooms, let alone be an environment conducive to learning.
This plan will undermine the distinctive strengths Vermont public schools offer students. We have seen strong results in growth in all aspects of being a student from those who attend small, tight-knit schools.
These supportive and conducive environments to everyone's learning style have benefited students after elementary school. In some of our personal experiences, being in a class of 15 or fewer allowed us to connect really well to our community in school and beyond. These connections have made it possible for us to give back more and more to our communities after leaving elementary school.
Finally, the timing of this plan is very rushed, and it risks causing irreparable harm. The full details of this plan were not released until almost midway through this legislative session, and yet, according to the proposed timeline, major changes will start arriving in 2026, next year. That is insufficient time for students, legislators, constituents, school boards, administrators, and other stakeholders to consider, research, and propose changes.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and hear our concerns.
Sincerely,
The Brattleboro Union High School Student Advisory Committee
Windham County, VT
This Voices Open Letter was submitted to The Commons.
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