Dear Washington Central townspeople,

It was exciting and compelling to see so many of you at the school board's budget forum last month. We also heard from quite a few of you privately after we at WCFE sent out reminders about it. What a tremendous community we have!

The next community budget forum is this Wednesday, December 1st from 6:15-7:30

While we haven't yet seen notes from that first forum, nor details about this coming one, we have heard the board mention their appreciation for so much participation (we had at least 30 community members at that meeting) and for the specific suggestions people gave in their breakout sessions. Various residents made the case for more music instruction, more outdoor and farm-to-school programs, more effective reading instruction (to lower the need for special education), more effective drug and alcohol prevention education, and more attention to examining and removing prejudice and inequities in the curriculum. That's just a sample.

Some community members told us that the format of the meeting was challenging -- they didn't have enough prior knowledge about the state of the schools to be able to offer opinions in the breakout sessions. That's totally fair and folks should always feel fine with passing on a question; it's fine just to listen or to pose your own question if the format isn't working for you...

The board wants to represent all of us as well as they can. They and the schools are facing so many stresses this year from the Covid situation to the uncertainties of funding to a lack of applicants for many unfilled jobs... By showing up for meetings, especially when we can't come to schools, we offer some support.

Wednesday Dec 1st - is the next budget forum. We haven't seen any detail, but it sounds like we will see an outline of the proposed budgets and hear how more about how the schools are doing this year.
We do encourage you to attend, even if you just choose to listen. Zoom may be awkward at times, but at least you don't have to travel on wintery roads.

Here's the link for the meeting
Wednesday Dec 1
Board meeting 5:15-8:00
Community Forum 6:15-7:30
Virtual Meeting Information
https://tinyurl.com/6bbvtv5s
Meeting ID: 830 1955 4902
Password: 459888
Dial by Your Location: 1-929-205-6099
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For the School Board meeting information, including the agenda, click here

If you're interested in learning more about being involved with WCFE, or you want to weigh in on any of the above, please contact me! More coming soon!

Erica Zimmerman (she/her)
Executive Director, Washington Central Friends of Education
wcfe@u32.org
cell/home office 802-595-5628
WCFE PO Box 324, Montpelier, VT 05601-0324
Please note that I divide my time between WCFE and my farm, and my work schedule varies. If you haven't heard back from me in 48 hours, please don't hesitate to reach out again by email or text. Thank you!

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