Category: education

More kids sit down to breakfast at school

Posted on December 17, 2009 |

• Addison County
• education
• food

By Kathryn Flagg

ADDISON COUNTY — The number of Vermont schoolchildren participating in school breakfast programs is on the rise, but many school administrators and food program directors are finding that federal and state reimbursements for the programs aren’t covering the costs of those initiatives.

On average, almost 15,000 low-income schoolchildren eat a free school breakfast every day in Vermont. That number represents a 15.5 percent increase over last year’s figures, according to the Food Research and Action Center, and marks the largest percent increase in the country.

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OV eyes more than $350k in budget cuts

BRANDON — The Otter Valley Union High School Board is seeking feedback from Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union-area residents at a budget forum at its Dec. 16 meeting at 7 p.m. in the OV auditorium.

At the OV board’s Dec. 2 budget-building session, board members and administration first learned the full magnitude of the budget impacts they are facing. Since October, they had been working on a plan to cut $350,000 from the current spending plan in an attempt to create a 2010-2011 budget that results in no increase in property tax rates for district towns.

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Declining enrollments put schools in a bind

Posted on December 7, 2009 |

• Weybridge
• education

By John Flowers

WEYBRIDGE — Weybridge and Ripton education leaders are joining a growing statewide conversation about declining student enrollment and how to maintain vibrant local schools in the face of graying demographics.

Weybridge Elementary School currently serves around 70 students this year, a number thankfully bolstered by 10 new enrollees who joined the ranks this fall, noted school board Chairman Steve Reigle. But that number could decline to a total of around 30 students by the 2012-2013 academic year, officials said.

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Mt. Abe board aims to level-fund school budget

Posted on December 3, 2009 |

• Bristol
• education

By Kathryn Flagg

BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Union High School board of directors Tuesday continued taking tentative steps toward a draft spending plan that reflects a zero-percent increase in educational spending — a goal that board chair Lanny Smith said leaves the board “between a rock and a hard place.”

“We don’t have anything left to cut,” said Smith.

Last year, voters in the five towns that feed into Mount Abe approved a roughly $12.8 million spending plan, down just less than 1 percent from spending in 2007-2008.

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