Vermont Secretary of Education, Rebecca Holcombe, will headline a panel discussion and community forum on school district unification in the Addison Central Supervisory Union.

The event, set for Monday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m., at the Middlebury Union High School auditorium, will feature a presentation by Holcombe on the need for and opportunities created by unifying school systems like the ACSU. A panel discussion will follow with Holcombe, ACSU Superintendent Peter Burrows, Rep. Willem Jewett, D-Ripton, and ACSU board chairman Rick Scott of Bridport.

The discussion will focus on questions from the audience

The ACSU is pursuing an "accelerated merger" under Act 46, the state's new education law that provides incentives to school systems unifying under a single board. The ACSU includes the following school districts and school boards: Ripton, Salisbury, Middlebury (ID-4), Weybridge, Cornwall, Shoreham, Bridport and UD-3, which oversees the Middlebury union middle and high schools.

The accelerated merger comes with certain tax benefits to qualifying school systems, but must be voted into place by July 1, 2016. The ACSU is proposing a merger vote on Town Meeting Day in March in the seven member towns.