Dear five sisters and south end neighbors,

The school board has been reconstituted, and last week we held our first board meeting as the post-election group.  We are still fairly delirious about passing the budget with such an extraordinary margin of victory, but we also have had some rude shocks to shake us out of it-most notably the angry tone with which the teacher’s union representative addressed the board.  Yes, all the difficult teacher negotiations that other districts in our area recently have experienced are now upon us.  I will try to keep you posted . . . but honestly, there won’t be much I can say.  We only discuss negotiations in executive session, and all of that is off-limits for public updating.  It’s a bit frustrating that everyone else can talk except the Board members, but oh well . . . discretion is what we get the big pitchers of water for . . .

Some issues we have been discussing publicly lately in the curriculum committee and the full board include: minority recruitment, school climate, board governance (very important, but not very interesting to read about), and what happens when the task force issues its report on how we might best address the needs of our students from low-income families.  I am still a bit unclear as to what the final task force report will look like, but they did vote unanimously for socioeconomic integration in all our schools.  That would mean change especially for the students at Barnes and Wheeler who attend our most homogeneous (i.e. poverty-saturated) schools. The task force will present lots of data explaining why heterogeneous schools are better for all our kids. The next question will be – how might we best integrate?  There are lots of ways to go about it, and the task force is a wonderfully diverse group to kick that question around. It is important to remember however that the task force’s report will be just that—it will be up to the Board to gather lots of input from teachers, parents, administrators, and community members, and then make decisions about what suggestions it might make sense to implement.

My personal goals for the year besides task-force implementation: arts education, curriculum enrichment at the high end, efficient governance, and enhanced partnerships with Burlington institutions and organizations.  The task force reports at our June 13 meeting, and I will be back then with news of their final report.  We already have quite a nice group of awards listed on our recently-redesigned website www.bsdvt.org (way to go Superintendent Collins), along with minutes, agendas, meeting times, etc. I am optimistic that we can have a positive and dynamic year on the Board despite some major budget problems and possible reorganization, but it will require a lot of people to be thoughtful and listen to each other.  Fred and I will keep you informed on the discussions as always.  Please let us know your concerns and comments as things develop.  Until then, enjoy the sunshine.

Amy Werbel
Ward 5 School Commissioner
awerbel@bsdvt.org
www.amywerbel.info