In the first of two sessions held over five days, Mountain Views Supervisory Union’s (MVSU) newly reestablished Regional Hub Build Working Group (RHBWG) seated its new members. In a second meeting, members kicked off the process of determining the design of their new middle- and high-school building by hearing a report from Architect Leigh Sherwood of Lavallee Brensinger Architects, the former lead architect for a design considered by MVSU voters in 2024. The proposal failed by just 340 votes.

RHBWG’s new roster is notable for its high percentage of dedicated Woodstock High School alumni as well as district-wide geographic representation. The new members include Seth Webb (Woodstock), who is the working group’s chair; Ryan Becker (Woodstock), who is a middle-school teacher at WUMS; Keri Bristow (Woodstock), who is MVSU’s chair; Cathy Dolan-Schweitzer (Pittsfield); Mikkel Forsthuber (Killington); Megan Landis (Woodstock); Josh Linton (Plymouth); Gina McAllister (Reading), who is MVSU Communications Committee chair; Zach Niles (Barnard); Tim Reiter (Pomfret);Sam Stockwell (Woodstock); Ryan Townsend (Bridgewater); and student member Lylah Zeitlin (Woodstock). Click this link for more members’ background information.

Community Working Group members from top left: Lylah Zeitlin, Ryan Becker, Cathy Dolan-Scweitzer, and Mikkel Forsthuber. From bottom left: Megan Landis, Zach Niles, Tim Reiter, and Sam Stockwell.

The group’s two main goals will be to:

1. Develop a plan to rebuild WUHSMS as a model regional hub within the new governance framework of Act 73 and in a way that is responsive to voter concerns, and

2. Pass a bond to support the school rebuild at the town meeting in March 2026.

“Our charge is simple: to build what’s essential for students and communities, use every available State dollar, and stop the cost of delay from eroding value,” said Webb. “With an inclusive process, disciplined scope, and strong community, student, and teacher partnerships, we’re working to deliver a school the entire region can be proud of – and also afford.”

With its new volunteer members, the RHBWG will aim to accomplish five near-term objectives:

1. Articulate a Regional Hub plan and work to build consensus for it with member towns and the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE).

2. Seek confirmation by the AOE that the agency will honor MVSU’s 2024 preliminary approval of a rebuild with additional capacity.

3. Work with State legislators to pass a law decoupling per-pupil spending from capital debt.

4. Team actively with the State’s Redistricting Task Force to gain support for RHBWG’s plan.

5. Influence 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.

A New Understanding of Construction Costs

During the second working-group session, Architect Sherwood provided an overview of the firm’s 2024 design recommendations, including explanations of decisions to allocate space for classrooms, sports facilities, and meeting areas that could accommodate some 750 students.

The design received approval from the Vermont Agency of Education in November 2024.

Sherwood provided historical data on costs associated with building to the existing design specifications. He also discussed inflation, which could be offset by State funding matches that are expected to represent between 20- to 30-percent of total expenditures.

In remarks to the full MVSU Board of Directors on Monday, October 6, State Representative Charlie Kimbell (Windsor) said he is working on legislation to ensure that if school construction projects must begin before the legislature is able to define financial-assistance terms within Act 73, they will be eligible for special State funding assistance. Act 73 is Vermont’s sweeping education reform bill, which passed into law last June.

As Working Group meets, a second boiler fails

As if placing an exclamation point on RHBWG’s first working session, MSVU’s Central Office reported to the school board that a second boiler needed to provide heat during winter months to the high school had failed. The failure occurred on the same day as the meeting.

“As we were firing up our high-school boilers for the first time this season, we found a number of leaks between the baffles in our 1958 boiler,” said Joe Rigoli, Director of Facilities for MVSU. “Boilers are designed with a 25-year life expectancy, but this boiler is now 67 years old. Due to excellent maintenance for many years, it has lived 2.5 times its life expectancy, and it now – understandably -- needs to be replaced.”

In 2022, Vermont’s Agency of Education Facilities Condition Assessment of WUHSMS infrastructure called for the failed boiler’s replacement in 2024, noting that it was “antiquated and inefficient.”

The State’s estimate of the school’s percentage of depreciation is 98 percent – making its condition the worst in Vermont.

About Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU): Located in Central Vermont’s Green Mountains, Mountain Views Supervisory Union serves students from Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, Woodstock, and other neighboring school-choice communities. For more information, please visit the MVSU Website.

About the Regional Hub Build Working Group: Click here if you’d like to receive ongoing updates on the RHBWG’s work.

MVSU’s Regional Hub Build Working Group Seats New Members, Begins Groundwork to Plan for an Essential, More Affordable School