By Tom Ayres, Senior Staff Writer
Proponents and skeptics of the $99 million bond issue proposed by the Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) School Board to finance the construction of a new Woodstock Union High School and Middle School (WUHS/MS) are mounting dueling public information campaigns in the rough-and-tumble runup to a seven-town vote on the bond by Australian ballot at Town Meeting on March 5.
The battle over the bond has already occasioned charges of a lack of transparency and the spreading of misinformation on the part of both sides in the controversy. Concerned voters seeking forthright answers to questions about the logistics of the new-school build and the potential financial impacts of the proposed bond issue on taxpayers will have multiple opportunities over the next six weeks to engage with school district leaders and bond skeptics in a variety of public settings.
Commencing this past Tuesday evening in Plymouth and Wednesday evening in Pomfret, MVSU representatives began offering presentations on the bond issue before public forums in the seven towns of the supervisory union school district, which also includes Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Reading, and Woodstock. On the other side of the fray, a nascent, informal group of voters on the $99 million bond issue who’ve dubbed themselves The School Bond Forum are hosting a public “share and learn meeting” at the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock this Saturday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m.
“The MVSU School Board has completed final costing for the new Woodstock Union Middle and High School and incorporated changes to the tax rate from newly enacted legislation. The board is now able to provide a good faith estimate of the tax impacts of a new school,” MVSU School Board Chair Keri Bristow and Vice Chair Ben Ford said in a statement issued last Friday. “We invite you to attend upcoming presentations at one of our seven district member towns,” Bristow and Ford continued. “With the exception of Barnard and Woodstock, these meetings will be held during regularly scheduled selectboard meetings. In addition to learning about the tax impacts, you will have a chance to see the plans for a new school and ask questions of MVSU staff, school board members, and the architects.”
In addition to the presentations already offered before the selectboards in Plymouth and Pomfret earlier this week, upcoming MVSU-led forums are slated as follows:
Killington: Monday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Killington Public Safety Building and via Zoom through a link at killingtontown.com.
Barnard: Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Barnard Town Hall.
Reading: Monday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. in the Robinson Hall Dining Room at Reading Town Hall and via Zoom through a link at readingvt.govoffice.com.
Woodstock: Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Woodstock Union High School and Middle School Library and via Zoom through a link at mtnviews.org.
Bridgewater: Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. in the Selectboard Room at the Bridgewater Town Offices and via Zoom through a link at bridgewater.vt.gov.
The School Bond Forum, spearheaded by Woodstock resident Peggy Fraser, kicked off its public engagement campaign with postings to local listservs and letters to the editor and with the placement of a political advertisement in this issue of the Standard. This Saturday’s 1 p.m. meeting at the library in Woodstock offers an opportunity for the newly formed group to interact with other concerned members of the public.
“We want all our students to have a safe, nurturing, and well-maintained environment in which to learn. We recognize the shortcomings and needs of the current building,” Fraser wrote in a posting to the Woodstock listserv on Friday. “However, the proposed $99 million bond, which is still an estimate, is a plan that lacks clarity and leaves us presently with many unanswered questions. We are hoping the School Board will postpone a vote in March until they can provide more information.”
In a phone conversation last Saturday, Fraser was asked if she expected members of The School Bond Forum to also attend the upcoming public education sessions slated by MVSU officials. “I can tell you that yes, people are attending the school board meetings,” Fraser replied. “People want to be informed. They certainly are paying attention.” Fraser added that her group had a meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening to plan for this weekend’s gathering at the Norman Williams Public Library and that an agenda for the public School Bond Forum meeting had yet to be finalized.
Fraser added that MVSU School Board Chair Bristow was planning to attend this Saturday’s session. School Board Vice Chair Ford, who also chairs the supervisory union’s Finance and New School Build committees, said Monday afternoon that he hadn’t yet decided if he would attend the library gathering this weekend. Ford did confirm that Bristow will attend the Forum group’s meeting, together with MVSU Superintendent of Schools Sherry Sousa.