Sustainable Education in a Changing World, Engaging Community, Achieving Excellence, Managing Costs. 

The world is rapidly changing and it is important that our students have the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.  At the same time, we need to make sure that what we invest in our schools is financially sustainable.  In order to do a good job addressing these challenges, we need to tap into the best thinking of everyone in our community. 

 A committee has been formed to study governance issues in the Addison Central Supervisory Union.  The committee began its planning work last year, is piloting some public engagement efforts in Weybridge currently, and is preparing to engage the public in the six remaining member towns.  The input received from the community will be used to determine whether or not to put forward a recommendation for the future of governance in the ACSU in the form of a ballot question for the voters' consideration. A key component of the study committee's mission is to "engage members of the public in a way that fosters informed decisions and community ownership of outcomes."  Called Sustainable Education in a Changing World, Engaging Community, Achieving Excellence, Managing Cost, this process will also enable each town to generate local actions for short and long term school planning.

Mission Statement

The Committee exists to provide leadership to our seven communities and school districts as they explore options and make informed decisions about the future of our schools.  

  • Ensure that educational quality and access for our communities' children, as well as fiscal responsibility and community values remain central to the discussion;
  • Engage members of the public in a way that fosters informed decisions and community ownership of outcomes;
  • Develop a recommendation based on community input, as well as data and information collected by professional analysts, within the constraints of current law. Data should include, but may not be limited to, educational, fiscal, and demographic analyses;
  • Report to the Commissioner of Education and ensure a community vote, within a reasonable time period.

Structure & Responsibility of the Study Committee

The Seven Elementary School Districts of Central Addison County have, by vote of their respective Boards, agreed to come together to study the possibilities and the potential benefits of  changing our current governance structure to a K-12 Regional Education District. This committee by statute, is an independent body, with representation based on the number of students educated by each district. Statute requires at least one School Board member from each district, the balance of the representatives can be any citizen. The communities participating and the number of representatives are as follow:
Bridport 1
Cornwall   1
Middlebury 5
Ripton 1
Salisbury 1
Shoreham 1
Weybridge 1

The Study Committee is charged with: Engaging the community members in a comprehensive dialog around the various options, commissioning a thorough analysis of the most desirable options, developing a recommendation based on the results of community involvement and comprehensive data. The report will be submitted to the Department of Education for approval and ultimately offered to the communities for approval by vote.

The Study Committee meets monthly. Our  schedule is to meet on the third Wednesday of each month at 6PM at the ACSU central office. The meetings are open to the public and we encourage interested parties to participate in the process. Please check the calendar, or register for the discussion to be notified of changes in meeting dates, etc.. Additionally, if you follow the discussion link you will find an ongoing dialog between committee members and  citizens of the school districts participating, we invite you to participate in this forum, and to point your friends and neighbors to it. All property owners, parents, educators, administrators and students have a vested interest in the work we are conducting, in keeping with our mission, we intend to complete our work with a result that reflects the will of all the people. Your participation in local and regional meetings, on this forum or directly in contact with your school board are essential to our achieving the best result.