Mountain Views Supervisory Union Calls for Members to Join New Regional Hub Build Working Group
The Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) announced this week that it is calling for volunteers who are interested in helping to plan the construction of a new middle- and high-school building on the Woodstock Union High School (WUHS) campus.
One resident from each of the supervisory union’s seven towns will be selected to serve on the Regional Hub Build (RHB) Working Group, which the MVSU Board reactivated in an unanimous vote last month. Interested volunteers should email Seth Webb, RHB Working Group Chair, at seth.webb@mtnviews.org, by September 1 with a short explanation of why they are interested in participating on the working group and how they believe they are qualified to advance the group’s strategies. Information about the working group and its goals can be accessed by reviewing this document.
MVSU’s member towns include Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock, the supervisory union’s hub. In addition to these seven communities, the new facility will also serve the 13 surrounding towns who use a schoolchoice option for their students to attend WUHS. MVSU’s original application for the construction of a new facility was approved by Vermont’s Agency of Education (AOE) on February 16, 2024, more than a year prior to the June passage of Act 73 – Vermont’s sweeping but largely open-ended education-reform law. Going forward, the new working group plans to present a new building proposal to voters in March 2026. The proposal will look to:
1) Address voter feedback from the March 6, 2024 high-school construction bond vote; 2) Work with State legislators to define currently unspecified portions of Act 73; and 3) Respond to the urgent need to replace WUHS’ failing infrastructure. New provisions in Act 73 support the replacement of existing infrastructure when it “threaten[s] the health or safety of students or employees” while being “inadequate to provide programs required by State or federal law or regulation.” The RHB Working Group will also focus on four main areas: Policy; Construction and Finance; Communications and Community Engagement; and Lobbying, Coalition Building, and Fundraising. With its new volunteer members, the RHB Working Group will look to take on five key tasks when it next convenes in September:
1. Articulating a Regional Hub plan and working g to build consensus for it with member towns and the Vermont Agency of Education.
2. Seeking confirmation by the Vermont Agency of Education that the agency will honor MVSU’s 2024 preliminary approval of a rebuild with additional capacity.
3. Working with State legislators to pass a law that decouples per-pupil spending from capital projects.
4. Teaming actively with Vermont’s new Redistricting Task Force to gain support for MVSU’s Regional Hub Plan.
5. Influencing state legislation during the 2025-26 session to approve school funding at the minimum of a 20-percent State match for the new MVSU construction.
“If we are determined to influence the future of our communities and the quality of Vermont’s education system, then we need to begin working together” said Seth Webb, Chair, MVSU Regional Hub Build Working Group. “We’ve got a lot to do. But if our region can speak with one strong voice on this issue, I’m optimistic about what’s ahead.” The MVSU plans to review and appoint its new members to its Regional Hub Build Working Group at its September 8 board meeting.
Contact:
Gina McAllister MVSU Communications Committee Chair
gina.mcallister@mtnviews.org
Mobile: (802) 738-6414
Office: ((802) 952-1048