Mt. Mansfield Modified Union School District (MMMUSD) is Formed

On December 18, 2014, Secretary of Education, Rebecca Holcombe, swore in community members who were elected in November to serve on the new MMMUSD Board and officially recognized Mt. Mansfield Modified Union as a Vermont school district.  In addition, a treasurer, clerk and annual meeting moderator were elected from the floor and an annual meeting date established on the fourth Thursday in February.  This organizational meeting was formal in nature as its purpose was to solidify MMMUSD as an authorized school district entity in the State of Vermont.  However, Secretary Holcombe highlighted the historical significance of the new school district as well as her support for the work of the Voluntary Merger Committee and enthusiasm for the potential of the the preK-12 school district.

Mt. Mansfield Modified Union School District (MMMUSD) Board Retreat

The MMMUSD School Board wasted no time in beginning its work.  On December 20th, the new board gathered at Camels Hump Middle school to discuss roles and responsibilities, set priorities for the next six months, elect officers and initiate the process of forming a new governing body.  The Vermont School Boards Association supported in facilitating the meeting. The retreat was productive and resulted in the following:

• Jon Milazzo (Richmond) was appointed Chair.  Andrew Pond (Bolton) was appointed Vice Chair.  Dianne Kirson-Glitman (Jericho) was appointed Clerk.
• Peter Geiss (Underhill), Beth Racine (Underhill),  Kevin Campbell (UID), Dave Clark (Huntington), Michael Marks (Richmond) and Edye Granning (Jericho) were appointed to the Finance Committee.
• Andrew Davis (Jericho), Peter Geiss (Underhill), Michael Marks (Richmond) and Jon Milazzo (Richmond) were appointed to the Negotiations Committee.  Huntington School District Representative, Edmund Booth is also a member of the Negotiations Committee.  
• The Board will meet the first and third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. (Click here to view meeting schedule) 
• The January 5, 2015 meeting will take place in the MMUHS Library. Subsequent meetings will be held at CHMS until June 30th.  CHMS is the meeting location during the transition phase. After June 30, the board will determine meeting venues.
• Set preparing a 2015-2016 budget; negotiating contract agreements; transitioning supervisory union responsibilities; building a cohesive board team; develop an understanding of the assets of the new district and plan for Town Meeting 2015.  

In addition to short-term priorities, the MMMUSD Board will be working on a vision, strategic plans/priorities and community engagement plan.  To access a draft of the Board Retreat minutes, please go to MMMUSD retreat minutes.

The next meeting of the MMMUSD Board will be held January 5, 2015, in the Mt. Mansfield Union High School Library.  A primary agenda item will be the 2015-2016 MMMUSD budget development for 8 schools which include Smilie Memorial School, Jericho Elementary, Richmond Elementary, Underhill ID Elementary, Underhill Central, Browns River Middle, Camels Hump Middle and Mt. Mansfield Union High Schools.

How does the weather influence the school day?  Click HERE to read information regarding school closings or delays.

CESU #12 Proposed Merger
Voting Results
November 4, 2014

Town/School District	Yes	No
Bolton	324	120
Huntington	285	521
Jericho	1240	334
Richmond	1043	570
Underhill ID	564	186
Underhill Town	772	274
Total	4228	2005

Diane Fitzgerald Awarded

Diane Fitzgerald, of Camels Hump Middle School, received the School Food Service Outstanding Achievement in Child Nutrition Award for her commitment to excellence and learning in child nutrition! 

Diane is in her 22nd year as food service manager at Camels Hump Middle School.

Pre-K Information and Scott Noyes

  

PreK-12 School District 
Proposed Merger Vote

November 4, 2014

Who:   

All voters in the Chittenden East Supervisory Union.

What:

     Vote to replace the six town school boards, Mt. Mansfield Union School Board and the Chittenden East Executive Committee with one PreK-12 unified governing board.   If one or two towns vote no, vote to create a Modified Unified Board with unified governance for all Towns voting yes.

When:

November 4, 2014 vote, by Australian ballot.

Where:

Bolton, Huntington, Jericho, Richmond, Underhill Town, and Underhill ID.

Why:

     For fifty years, our communities have united in a grade 5-12 single school district and school board--Mount Mansfield Union School District--to educate our children in middle and high school.  After a long and extensive study process, the CESU Voluntary Merger Committee has recommended that our communities unite in a PreK-12 single school district and school board to provide better education opportunities for all of our children and to more efficiently manage our resources and tax dollars.   

     If the proposal is approved, the State of Vermont will provide property tax reductions for each community voting yes for a period of four years.  The amount of the reductions is described in the Voluntary Merger Report. 

     The details of the proposal, supporting report, and dissenting views are in the Voluntary Merger Report that is posted on the CESU website.  In addition, the website contains links to studies and background information considered in this process.  We encourage all voters to study this important question.  There will be informational meetings held in each community; the times, locations, and dates of the meetings are listed on the back of this flyer.

     All local school boards have scheduled public votes by Australian ballot on November 4^th as part of the general election.

For More Information:  Call the CESU office at (802) 434-2128 for a copy of the full report, or go to the CESU webpage at http://cesu.k12.vt.us and click on the Voluntary Merger Discussion tab.

Polling Places

 The voters residing in each member district will cast their ballots in the following polling places:

Bolton	♦	Smilie Memorial School	♦	7 am–7 pm
Huntington	♦	Brewster-Pierce Memorial School	♦	6:30 am–7 pm
Jericho	♦	Jericho Elementary School	♦	7 am–7 pm
Richmond	♦	Camels Hump Middle School	♦	7 am–7 pm
Underhill ID--Jericho	♦	Jericho Elementary School	♦	7 am–7 pm
Underhill ID--Underhill	♦	Underhill Town Hall	♦	7 am–7 pm
Underhill Town	♦	Underhill Town Hall	♦	7 am–7 pm

Informational Meetings

                                      

Dates	Locations	Times
October 1	Smilie Memorial School	6 pm
October 7	Underhill Central School	6:30 pm
October 8	Jericho Elementary School	6 pm
October 14	Brewster-Pierce Memorial School	6 pm
October 15	Richmond Elementary School	6 pm
October 16	Browns River Middle School Library	6 pm
October 21	Deborah Rawson Library	10 am
October 22	Mt. Mansfield Union High School KIVA	6 pm
October 27	Brewster-Pierce Memorial School	6 pm
October 28	Underhill ID Elementary School	6 pm
October 28	Underhill Central School	6:30 pm
October 29	Smilie Memorial School	6 pm
October 29	Jericho Elementary School	6:30 pm
November 2	Camels Hump Middle School Library	4 pm

CESU Proposed School District Unification Vote
on November 4, 2014

Dear Community Members,

Over the course of the past 11 months, the Chittenden East Voluntary Merger Planning Committee (VMPC) has been studying and discussing unifying Chittenden East Supervisory Union’s (CESU) eight school districts into one unified school system.  As part of its work, the VMPC has prepared a Report and Articles of Agreement outlining the framework of a proposed unified school district.  The report and articles were submitted to the Vermont State Board of Education on July 29, 2014.  After review and an affirmative recommendation from the Vermont Agency of Education, the State Board of Education approved the report and articles on August 19, 2014.  The action of the State Board of Education established a date for the electorates of Bolton, Huntington, Jericho, Richmond, Underhill Incorporated and Underhill Town School Districts to vote on unifying CESU’s eight districts.  This vote will take place in conjunction with the state and federal elections on November 4, 2014.  Per state statute, the unified school district can look different depending on how many towns approve the unification article.  If the unification article passes in all of CESU’s member municipalities, a Unified Union School District will be formed.  If the article passes in a majority of CESU’s municipalities (i.e. four out six), a Modified Union School District will be established.  Under a Modified Union School District, one or two towns that do not pass the unification article will continue as an independent elementary district and have proportional representation on the new Modified Union School District Board. 

As specified in state law, elections of board directors must take place on the same date that the unification article is voted.  Community members interested in serving on this new union school board can pick up petitions at their local town office.  Residents of the following school districts can find petitions at these locations:

School District	School Director Positions	Petitions Available at:
Bolton:	One 3-year term	Bolton Town Office, CESU Website
Huntington:	One 2-year term One 3-year term	Huntington Town Office, CESU Website
Jericho:	Two 1-year terms One 2-year term One 3-year term	Jericho Town Office, CESU Website
Richmond:	Two 1-year terms One 2-year term One 3-year term	Richmond Town Office, CESU Website
Underhill ID:	Two 2-year terms	Underhill ID Elementary School,CESU Website
Underhill Town:	One 1-year term One 3-year term	Underhill Town Office, CESU Website

Please take note: Petitions must be returned to the Town Clerk no later
than 5pm on September 29, 2014. 

For more details on the work of the Voluntary Merger Committee and contact information for committee members, please click on the following link: CESUVoluntary Merger Committee.

A number of informational meetings regarding the proposed unification will be held throughout CESU.  Click HERE to find a meeting in your town/municipality.

Chittenden East Supervisory Union

First day of School Serving the towns of Huntington, Richmond, Jericho, Underhill and Bolton Vermont.

What a fantastic first day!  From Underhill ID, pictured here are faculty and staff members (with four students) taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  From eating homemade mac and cheese for lunch in Huntington to reading, writing and drawing in Underhill, we were able to see active engaged learners in every school in our supervisory union.  Hats off to the facilities personnel who prepared the buildings -- they look great.  Thank you to all the staff and to our teachers who are smiling and ready to help scholars learn!  Most importantly, welcome back to all the young people.  We look forward to a great year!

Convocation

What qualities should teachers possess?  Patience, appreciation, listening, dedication, conflict resolution, interest and humor.  What should the learning environment be?  Kind, enjoyable, creative, inspiring, persistent, and fun.  What should teachers help young learners do? Exceed, connect, improve, persevere.  Ultimately, teachers leave a legacy for young people.  These are the words of our scholars.  Chittenden East Supervisory Union faculty and staff kicked off the 2014-15 school year with our annual Convocation.  Our inspirational speaker this year was a group of students from multiple grades.  Each shared the qualities of teaching that have impacted their learning.  A huge shout out to our group of 5th, 8th, 9th and 12th graders representing every town and every school in CESU.  Their humor, poise, reflection and honesty left all of our faculty and staff inspired for the upcoming school year.

Underhill ID teacher Tracy Lavallee's Blog of her Journey to the Arctic Circle

Underhill ID teacher, Tracy Lavallee journeyed to the Arctic Circle
with the Earthwatch Institute to study climate change
with leading scientists in the field.  You can read her blog here...

Preschool Partnership Slots Available for Jericho and Underhill Residents

The Chittenden East Supervisory Union (CESU), through two grants received from the Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative, is offering eighteen Preschool Partnership slots for three and four year olds of Jericho and Underhill residents, nine for each town. These Preschool Partnerships allow for up to ten hours per week of developmentally appropriate preschool at a program of the parent’s choice. Enrollment must be in an approved preschool. Priority will be given to four year olds in their year before kindergarten. 

A designated tuition amount will be paid directly to the Preschool Partners for the ten hours per week for thirty-five weeks during the school year. If this amount is less than the actual cost of the Preschool program, providers may charge families the difference between the actual cost and the amount they receive from CESU. Actual cost will be determined by Preschool Partners completing a "Template for Calculating Actual Cost of Preschool.”

Parents/guardians of children who will be three or four by September 1, 2014 and who reside in the towns of Jericho or Underhill are eligible to apply. If more applications are received than there is funding to support, a lottery system will be used to determine who receives the funding. 

Letters and applications have been sent to families using school census lists. If families meet the criteria and did not receive an application, one can be obtained by calling the CESU Central Office at 434-2128. All applications must be postmarked by August 11, 2014. Decisions will be made by August 15, 2014 and parents will be informed. 

For more information about these grant opportunities, contact Beverly White, CESU Special Services Director at 434-2128.

Chittenden East Voluntary Merger Committee Update

Dear Community Members, 

The Chittenden East Voluntary Merger Committee has completed a preliminary draft of the Modified Union School District Report.  The draft report includes Articles of Agreement which lay out the potential framework for merging Chittenden East Supervisory Union's seven member school districts into one unified school district as well as rationale for the governance change. The Committee has been studying and discussing the advantages, disadvantages and structure of a unified school system for the past seven months. The preliminary draft report linked below represents their collective work to date.  

There will be a public forum on June 2, 2014, 6:00 p.m. at Camels Hump Middle School to discuss and comment on the preliminary draft report.    To share your feedback you can submit comments to this blog, send input to representatives of the committee and/or attend the public forum on June 2^nd. 

For more details on the work of the Voluntary Merger Committee and contact information for committee members, please click on the following link: CESU Voluntary Merger .

CESU Voluntary Merger Study Preliminary Report