6:30 p.m. Craftsbury Town Hall
15 Stakeholders present: Gina, Elinor, Cedar, Leslie, Gayle, Mary Lou, Jen, Marie, Kent, Bob T., Bob G., George, Jeanine, Joe, Allison
3 Steering Committee present: Heidi, Annie, Susie
Heidi opened the meeting asking the stakeholders to offer recommendations for research to the school board which had been stakeholder homework. These are the recommendations and also some general comments:
*definitive costs of our schools compared to other small schools, solidify those numbers,
*accurate expected enrollment
*check past projections that school has predicted , say 20 years back or more, and see if predictions materialized,
*pupil numbers are critical
*is it possible to have interim situation while issues such as enrollment are addressed,
*attracting students is crucial; could an agreement be reached within district so any student could attend Craftsbury who wanted to.
*local population is critical. “Hardwick effect” may increase local numbers in spite of state and nationwide student downturn,
*re-evaluate new model after reasonable time, five years,
*merger issue…be sure school board fully understands and what it means to our schools,
*merger issue…do alternative options fit,
*talk to new superintendent and see what her vision is and if a new Craftsbury vision would be accepted
*would merger work to our advantage,
*Insist we have a vote,
*concern about labels-magnet, school choice, etc
*what is full capacity of Craftsbury schools,
*compare 7-12 vs. 9-12 costs
Introduction
Line 6 &7…”The high cost of Craftsbury Schools is a challenge yet the schools bring the community together.”
Line 9…should be “2009”
Line 11…should be “Jan. 2009”
Lines 22 &23 …stronger language “very concentrated effort to collect a broad group”. mention hard work, rigor, people hours (could be in appendix)
Findings
Lines 7-9…change to quality “and breadth of curriculum”,
Line 15…add “Current “ demographic trends…
Alternatives
Clearly define three alternatives (1,2,3) and add more to descriptions as these are “meat ‘ of the report,
Page 4
Line 12…delete
Conclusions
Line 3…delete “structure”
Line 4….add “7-12”.
Add something like “educational and diversity benefits from a larger student body” somewhere.
Page 6, line 28-page 7, line 12…delete
Stakeholders will look for other credible citations to insert in recommendation and send to Annie or Perry.
Page 7, line 20…put in present tense “renovations that are occurring…”
Recommendations
Put vision/mission before findings; do not label it vision/mission but start sentence “The CSCC envision a school where students…”
Next Steps
Line 2..”The next phase…” (delete final)
Line 9…delete possible, Be More Directive!
Some final comments from stakeholders:
Hard work and rigor needs to be more evident,
So many people hours invested (put in appendix?)
Explain why spread sheets are as they are….what were the “drivers”. School Board will then be better able to understand our intentions.
Use graphs as tools as they show process and structure-“here’s what we were thinking”…shows our thought process.
Submitted by recorder Susan Houston who has these personal comments:
This was a very thoughtful, courteous, and reflective group. They have investigated. listened, and worked hard for the future of Craftsbury Schools, our children, and our community. Thank you so much.
