Voters in Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock will weigh in via Australian ballot on three bond issues, a proposed school budget of nearly $32.47 million for fiscal year 2027, and candidates for eight slots on the Mountain Views School District (MVSD) Board of Directors at Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 3.
New school bond could save taxpayers $15 million versus proposed 2024 bond
The hottest item on the Town Meeting agendas in the seven communities that comprise the MVSD is a school bond of $111.9 million to fund the design and construction of an all-new Woodstock Union High School/Middle School (WUHS/MS). A previous school construction bond issue of $99 million was rejected by voters 55-45% in March of 2024.
MVSD officials have drafted the 2026 bond question with contingencies, stating that the school district will not go through with borrowing to finance the WUHS/MS rebuild unless two conditions are met: first, the district is awarded at least 25% of the amount borrowed in federal or state grants, gifts, revenues or funding from other sources (effectively lowering the amount to be paid by taxpayers to $84 million); and secondly, the Vermont Legislature enacts legislation separating capital construction debt from the per-pupil education spending penalty.
Two smaller bonds
Two smaller bonds on the warning are intended to repair critical infrastructure at WUHS/MS — a facility that school officials contend has been steadily deteriorating and has nearly reached the end of its 68-year-long life.
Article 2 on the warning asks school district voters to okay the issuance of “general obligation bonds or notes” in a principal amount not to exceed $300,000 to finance improvements to the wastewater removal system at WUHS/MS.
In Article 3, the school board is asking voters to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $250,000 to finance building improvements that include the replacement of the existing 1958 boiler at WUHS/MS with new boilers and the installation of new fuel storage tanks at the combined high and middle school facility.
The $32.47 million budget proposal
Article 1 on the 2026 Town Meeting warning posted by the MVSD calls for voters in the seven towns of the unified district to consider approving a $32,469,506 budget for the 2026-27 school year. The MVSD board and school district administrators project that the proposed budget that goes before voters on March 3 will, if approved, result in long-term-weighted (LTR) education spending in the district of $18,075.87 per student, which is 4.7% higher than per pupil spending for the current, 2025-26 fiscal year.
School board races
Town Meeting attendees in five of the seven towns in the school district will fill eight spots on the MVSD Board of Directors on March 3.
Reading: Incumbent school board member Gina McAllister, who chairs the MVSD Communications and Community Connections Working Group, is squaring off against Reading resident, clinical social worker, and therapist Alicia Fuggetta for election to the remaining two years of a three-year term vacated last year by Adam Ameele.
In a second race on the Reading ballot at Town Meeting, incumbent MVSD board member Anna Sessa is seeking reelection to a three-year term.
Woodstock: Newcomer Lisa Linton is seeking a full three-year term on the MVSD board, filling a slot vacated by Sam DiNatale, who had served on the school governing body for nine years before announcing her departure late last year. DiNatale’s term expires on March 3, and Linton is running unopposed to take her place.
Two other incumbents from the six-member Woodstock delegation to the MVSD Board of Directors are seeking reelection. School board vice-chair John Williams is running unopposed for another three-year slot on the board, while Seth Webb, the chair of the school district’s WUHS/MS Rebuild Working Group, is running as a write-in for the remaining year of the two-year term vacated last year by Ernie Fernandez.
Pomfret: Lydia Locke, one of two MVSD board members from Pomfret, is stepping down after serving four years on the school governing body. No one filed for the open, three-year term by the filing deadline of Jan. 28. MVSD clerk Rayna Bishop said Friday that, to her knowledge, no one had stepped up to run for the slot as a write-in.
Killington: Incumbent Anne Karl is running uncontested for reelection to a three-year term on the school board.
Plymouth: Incumbent Josh Linton is seeking reelection to a three-year term. He is unopposed in the effort.
Public information hearing on Feb. 26
The legal voters of the MVSD towns are encouraged to attend a pre-Town Meeting public information hearing on the 2026 Australian ballot items on the school district’s warning. The state-mandated informational gathering is set for Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Teagle Library at WUHS/MS in West Woodstock. The public information session will also be accessible online via Zoom.
Full details of the school bond and rebuilding effort, including the facility’s design and construction, projected cost, and education tax implications, are included in an in-depth article in the Feb. 12 edition of the Vermont Standard.
