Calais - our school needs you NOW.
Please come to the Supervisory Union Board carousel meeting on Wednesday, 26 Sept from 5:30 – 7:30 and then, if you can stay, for the Calais School Board meeting at 7:30.
Or come to either one and let board members on any and all WCSU boards know you support joining other schools in the litigation.
The letter below explains. This letter went to all school board chairs throughout Vermont. These boards are wanting to meet the goals of Act 46 with their own Alternative Governance Structure ( as does WCSU).
You can find more information about Vermonters for Schools and Community @ vtschoolsrock.org.
Some WCSU board members are leery of a lawsuit and are ready to throw in the towel. But we need to go this last step. By voting to join this group any school board has not committed any money to the eventual court proceedings as that board can withdraw as necessary.
Dear School Board Chair,
While we all hope that the State Board of Education will see the issues raised in the Alternative plan submissions as genuine barriers to "practicable" school district mergers, we all know that we cannot wait for the final state plan to be issued before preparing for the worst. Instead we need to take some precautionary steps now. You are faced with clear choices:
1. Accept a ruling of the SBE that you must merge.
2. Look to join legal action to provide relief
3. Vote to close your school and begin plans to create an independent school locally.
Each district will need to mull over the options and decide on their best next step. I am writing today to let you know that a volunteer group of school leaders has been meeting and working with some volunteer attorneys to lay the groundwork for legal challenges to forced merger. We hope that litigation is not going to be necessary, but want to be prepared in the event it is. And we are clear that if it is necessary, it will be best if communities choose to take joint action to gain relief from forced merger, rather than trying to go alone, one by one, into court.
Over the weekend the group submitted the attached joint litigation "hold" (a warning to potential defendants that they must not destroy or alter records related to decisions they have made) and a public records request to the State Board of Education and the Agency of Education. It details some of the issues districts face and informs both the State Board and Agency that litigation is possible.
I am writing at this time to ask you to discuss with your fellow board members the option of legal action and, if the resolve is there, to vote in the next few weeks to join other districts in a lawsuit to seek a preliminary injunction against forced merger, if such a lawsuit is warranted. I want to emphasize that we hope the idea of forced mergers dies, as it should, and that litigation becomes unnecessary.
At this time there is no cost involved as the lawyers are volunteering their time. Once the SBE plan is published we understand that some districts may not be recommended for forced merger and at that point they would withdraw from the potential litigation, leaving others to move forward if they choose to do so. At that stage we will know the number of districts who will be plaintiffs and will be able to determine the cost per district. We believe that the final amount will be a reasonable amount per community to bring the process to the stage of a preliminary injunction.
The lawsuit would be filed as soon as possible after the publication of the final plan. The volunteer attorneys are currently working on the complaint and if a preliminary injunction is issued, it would stop the process of forced merger until the case is resolved. Consequently, you would prepare your school budget for your district as usual this school year as merger would most likely not happen on July 1st2019 but be delayed until legal action is resolved.
As soon as your district has decided and voted on this please let me know. This will indicate that your district intends, if forced into merger, to be a plaintiff in the case moving forward. Once we have received the outcome of your local vote we will arrange a meeting in early October with representatives from each district that has signed on to be a plaintiff. At that time, we will answer questions and outline the next steps. Please let me know by September 28thyour decision either way.
If your community has retained an attorney to represent you on this issue please send us their contact information as we would like to loop them into this working group of lawyers.
If you have questions do not hesitate to call me at 802-274-3080 or email me directly at margmaclean@netscape.net.
Together we have a strong case for the fair resolution of the issues districts have presented in their alternative plans.
Sincerely
Margaret MacLean
Vermonters for Schools and Communities
Attached
Litigation Hold an
Dec 26, 2024, 7 to 7:45 AM
Come Join Us for French ConversationDec 26, 2024, 12 to 1 PM
Adult PickleballDec 29, 2024, 9 to 11 AM