the essex
May 10, 2018 • The Essex Reporter • 1
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{ Thursday, May 10, 2018 }
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
The selectboard and trustees discuss the status of consolidations between the town and village during a joint meeting April 25. All nine elected officials agreed that a single municipality remains their goal, though they differ on what's the next step.
Boards agree: One municipality the goal By COLIN FLANDERS Merger. Consolidation. Tax equity. Representation. Buzzwords often surface when the trustees and selectboard meet, and their April 25 gathering was no different. But as they chiseled through a discussion older than any of their individual tenures, officials eventually voiced a shared vision: To them, the future of Essex and Essex Jct. is a single municipality. If a merger is the finish line, last month’s meeting was the pre-
marathon meal. Most officials share different views on what decisions must come first, and there’s no telling if residents would even support the move. Memories of the 20067 merger attempt still creep into meetings, though most officials seem uninterested in rehashing decades-old debates. That the village and town have been inching toward a merged community is no secret. Officials have long said one of the biggest takeaways from the failed merger is that a bottom-up approach is
key to approval. The shared services initiative has done just that: consolidating low-hanging fruit and intertwining village and town services like public works, finance and the municipal manager. They’ve done so with bumps in the road (read: recreation district), but the spirit of collaboration on April 25 earned the respect of several in attendance, like resident Jim Bernegger, who said he was encouraged to have finally seen “a single point of view.” Unified manager Evan Teich even suggested more meetings —
a rare stance for a municipal employee. “I don’t mind the idea of extra meetings, because I think this meeting was very good,” he said. “It brought out a lot of good comments and a lot of good suggestions. I would hate for that to dissipate.” But the boards now find themselves facing down two of the biggest obstacles in the way toward a full merger: governance and taxes. And there’s disagreement on which to tackle first. For selectwoman Irene
Wrenner, the first step is to secure buy-in from town-outside-the-village residents by affording them representation equal to the village. Wrenner presented a petition April 25 that called on the selectboard to study “representation imbalances” and work to reform those so town-outside-the-village residents have an independent voice in municipal matters. The petition had 280 signatures at the time. Wrenner further explained See MERGER, page 2
Animal abuse investigated Town says little or nothing By MIKE DONOGHUE For The Essex Reporter Essex officials were tight-lipped – or in the dark – this week about an investigation into a major case of reported animal cruelty in town. The complaint was received about 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 27, but Essex officials didn’t acknowledge the incident until The Essex Reporter asked about a report of dozens of dead and underfed cows on Chapin Road. Essex Police Lt. Rob Hall said he couldn’t confirm the specific address based on orders
from Chief Rick Garey. Garey did not respond to multiple messages by deadline Tuesday. The department has not updated its activity log on the town website since November 2017. Municipal Town Manager Evan Teich also did not respond to messages. “We do not have any comment on an ongoing police matter,” deputy town manager Greg Duggan later offered in an email. The Essex Selectboard was also not briefed on the case, according to at least two members. Selectboard members Elaine Sopchak and Irene Wrenner expressed surprise when learning of the incident and that town officials hadn’t made them aware of it. Sopchak noted nothing was mentioned at See ABUSE, page 2
EHS plans grading scale changes By COLIN FLANDERS For years, parents have urged Essex High School to change how it converts its grading scale over concerns that it disadvantages students who apply for college or scholarships. Their advocacy even led to a pair of petitions earlier this year that garnered hundreds of signatures. And now, it appears EHS leadership has listened. Last week, principal Rob Reardon outlined a new grading scale conversion system that he says better aligns EHS with other Chittenden County schools. For example, instead of receiving a 2.4 GPA for an 85 average, EHS students with that same grade will now earn a 3.0 — like what they’d get at CVU. The new scale also operates off a passing grade of 60, which is 10 points lower than now. Reardon outlined the changes during the May 1 school board meeting and said the new scale will officially roll out at the start of next school year. Parents at the meeting expressed gratitude at the decision. “I just want to thank Mr. Reardon for being so responsive and actually listening to us,” said Erynne Ross, who started the parent petition. “What you captured with the new GPA scale is exactly what people were looking for.” Reardon explained the current system has been in place for many years and previously matched up with most other schools. But those schools have since modified their scales while EHS has maintained its system based on a pre-
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
Westford students are informed that the Essex Westford School Board would not be taking action on their request to raise the Black Lives Matter flag at Westford Elementary School. Instead, the board discussed guidelines for future requests.
BLM decision delayed School board will first create guidelines for flagpole requests By COLIN FLANDERS
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
Principal Rob Reardon speaks to the school board at a meeting in February. Reardon informed the board late last month that the high school would be implementing a new grading scale next schol year. vailing theme that “we would be lowering our standards,” he said. “I will be the first to admit that what is proposed is certainly not unanimous at the school,” Reardon said, “but I think we've made some good strides.” See GRADING, page 3
The Essex Westford School Board took no action last week on a student request to raise the Black Lives Matter flag at Westford Elementary, instead discussing guidelines that all requests must pass before being considered. The proposal would require all requests include a specific timeframe for a flag to fly and a petition showing support beyond a few students making the request. Requests must adhere to the schools’ values — a stipulation the BLM request passes, superintendent Beth Cobb said, because it falls under the district’s focus on diversity and equity. Members had planned to make a final decision on the student request at their May 1 meeting. But after seeking legal counsel, they shifted their focus toward the guidelines since those will apply to both the BLM request any in the future.
“Obviously, you can’t imagine everything that might come up in the future,” board chairwoman Martha Heath said. “But I think we want to do our best at setting up guidelines that we will be able to live with if and when other requests come.” Heath said the board will likely vote on the rules at its next meeting, and the Westford students will need to follow the final stipulations before members consider their request. “They still have some work to do,” Heath said at the meeting. One question still lingering is whether the district should require a threshold of signatures before considering petitions. Some felt the number doesn’t matter. “Whatever we suggest for petitions, we need to own the final decision and say we on the board support this,” board member Keeley Schell said. “There isn’t a number that I think accurately represents saying See BLM, page 3