Readsboro residents voted against closing their town’s only school on Wednesday in a 166–91 vote, according to official election results.

The election, conducted by Australian ballot, was scheduled after nearly 40 residents of the Bennington County town’s 600 registered voters signed a petition calling for the school’s closure. The number of people who signed the petition exceeded the 5% minimum of 30.85 voters needed for the town to call a special election.

In the petition, which was sent to the school board on April 4, people expressed doubts about the quality of education at Readsboro Central School, which has 39 students enrolled in pre-K through sixth grade. 

Petitioners also raised concerns about staffing, emphasizing one instance in which two teachers were responsible for teaching three grade levels in one classroom. Since then, another classroom teacher was hired, according to Principal Robyn Oyer, returning the school to its standard ratio of two grades per classroom.

In April, Larry Hopkins, a former Readsboro school board member who was among those who drafted and signed the petition, told VTDigger that he did not think the town would vote to close the school but felt the petition was a necessary means of making “people aware of what’s going on” at Readsboro. 

Ahead of the vote, Readsboro administrators, school board members and many other town residents expressed a desire to keep the school open.

Last month, residents wrote a letter to the editor at VTDigger arguing that closing Readsboro and sending local kids to other schools would have a negative impact on the young students’ senses of stability. 

“The feedback we have received from the schools (that Readsboro graduates attend) points to the fact that we are properly preparing students socially, emotionally and academically to move forward and do well in other area schools,” Oyer wrote in an email to VTDigger in April. Oyer said many Readsboro graduates have made the honor roll at their current schools.

Following the vote that determined that the school would remain open, Readsboro residents discussed the election results on their town’s public Facebook page. 

“Great turnout!” one resident wrote. “Hopefully this community can continue to support each other in a positive way.”

Tiffany Tan contributed reporting.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Readsboro voters choose to keep the town’s school open.

WOODSTOCK — The town’s economic development commission has expanded its housing incentives, allowing landlords in bordering towns to receive funding to house Woodstock workers in newly created, unused, or formerly short-term rentals. 

Woodstock’s Selectboard approved the amended program Tuesday night. 

The town’s economic development commission — funded by Woodstock’s 1% option tax — first created its rental incentive program last year. The program paid landlords up to $10,000 to build or refurbish rental units to make them livable, and offered similar funds to convert short-term rentals to long-term rentals. 

To obtain the grant, the landlord needed to rent the space for three years to someone working in Woodstock or surrounding towns. Owners could charge no more than $1,000 a month for a studio, $1,500 for a one-bedroom or $2,500 for a multi-bedroom unit, not including utilities.

Like other towns across the state, Woodstock has a dearth of affordable rentals. In turn, some local businesses have struggled to find workers. 

“The market isn’t providing these houses, so we have to provide some subsidies,” said Jill Davies, a member of the economic development commission’s housing working group. 

Now, the program is expanding to cover units in Bridgewater, Pomfret, Reading and Hartland, so long as the units are rented to someone working an average of at least 25 hours per week in Woodstock. 

“You just have to try everything and see what works,” Davies said.

Davies said the rental program in Woodstock, an upscale tourist destination, was inspired by a similar initiative led by the Big Sky Community Housing Trust in the resort town of Big Sky, Montana. 

The commission also solidified other, minor policy changes to the program. Rather than distributing funds on a per-bedroom basis, the economic development commission will pay landlords according to how many qualified workers they rent to. 

Landlords would receive $2,500 if they sign a qualified tenant to a one-year lease, and $6,000 if they sign a tenant to a two-year lease. A maximum award of $10,000 is available to landlords who sign four or more tenants to two-year leases. 

Additional funds are available if landlords rent to a non-qualified tenant, so long as they also rent to a qualified tenant. 

Previously, landlords needed to sign one-year leases at a minimum with qualified tenants. Now, landlords can receive grant money for six-month leases in order to accommodate seasonal workers. 

Thus far, Woodstock’s rental incentive program has supported or is planning to support 10 units, according to Trena Tolliver, housing advisor for the economic development commission. Funds will support or have already supported the creation of four accessory dwelling units, a new three-bedroom unit, and a three-bedroom apartment being rented to Woodstock workers, she said. 

Tolliver called the program’s changes “enhancements,” adding that current funding would allow for two or three more units. 

“If we get close to hitting the targets, we’ll go back to the (commission) to ask for more funding,” she said. 

Both Tolliver and Davies acknowledged that the 10 units supported thus far are far from enough. Still, they represent a start. 

“We just hope to keep the momentum going,” Tolliver said. “Anything we’ve created or used to get this off the ground, we welcome other people to utilize it, too.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Woodstock will pay landlords in nearby towns to house its workers.

Morristown’s top administrator plans to leave his job by the end of June, he announced this week, close to two months after the town’s selectboard chair also resigned. 

The decisions by Eric Dodge, the town administrator, and Bob Beeman, the board chair, followed months of contentious local debate over the Lamoille County town’s proposed 2024 fiscal year budget, which voters overwhelmingly rejected on Town Meeting Day. 

The budget was controversial in part due to its size — more than $10 million, which a small but vocal group of residents argued was too large for the 5,500-person community — as well as salary increases it included for town employees, including Dodge.

A revised budget set to go before voters next month still includes those increases. All Morristown employees have been slated to receive what Dodge has described as an 8.7% cost of living adjustment, though some in certain pay grades would get larger raises.

The town administrator read a resignation letter at Monday’s selectboard meeting, saying that his decision came after “uncountable hours of contemplation.” He didn’t say why he planned to leave; on Friday, he did not return a request for comment.

“My reasons for making the decision are personal,” said Dodge, who was hired in April 2021 after serving on the town’s selectboard. “I do not intend to air them publicly.”

After Dodge read his letter, several board members and town officials — who, in some cases, appeared to be crying or holding back tears — said that while they respected Dodge’s decision to leave, they were disheartened by the position the town was in.  

“It’s very troubling to me,” said Don McDowell, the board’s vice chair. “It saddens me that we’re at this point.” 

Beeman, the former board chair, resigned his seat with a year left in his term just days after the March election. He chalked up his decision, in part, to the town’s political climate becoming “extremely negative and volatile” over the past year, he has said.

At Monday’s meeting, board member Laura Streets said recent months had marked “unprecedented times” for the town. Streets is one of two members elected in March, along with Travis Sabataso, who had campaigned against the proposed budget. 

“I’m actually very sorry that these were your two years in this position,” Streets told Dodge. “It’s been incredibly stressful.”

Streets and Sabataso voted to accept Dodge’s resignation, while board member Chris Palermo voted against it, having said earlier in the meeting that he disagreed with Dodge’s decision and wanted him to stay. Judy Bickford, the board chair, abstained, setting up the possibility that the board would not approve Dodge’s request to leave. 

McDowell, who had the final vote, paused for almost 30 seconds before granting Dodge the board’s approval. His “yes” vote was “the hardest vote I’ve ever taken here,” McDowell told his colleagues.

Dodge said he intended to stay on until a new town administrator was hired, but he said he wanted to be out of the job by June 30.

Monday’s meeting also saw some discussion about the 2024 fiscal year budget, which officials have slimmed down in advance of the planned revote on June 6. 

The new proposal totals about $9.4 million, roughly 13% higher than the budget voters approved in 2022. It’s estimated to increase local tax bills by about 10%, compared to the roughly 25% increase that had been proposed on Town Meeting Day this year.

Town officials said they were able to reduce the size of the budget in part by drawing on about $250,000 of the town’s reserve funds, as well as putting off hiring a new highway department employee. The proposal still includes funding for a new police officer, which the local agency has said is badly needed to bolster coverage on its overnight shift.

All five selectboard members voted in favor of the latest proposal. 

Dodge has defended keeping the salary increases in the budget as a way to keep town jobs competitive at a time in which many other municipalities are vying for workers. In the letter he read Monday night, he spoke highly of the town’s employees.

“My intent when I stepped into this role was to create a work environment built on trust, mutual respect, open communication and personal accountability,” Dodge said. “I couldn’t have selected a better team to bring these concepts to.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Another top Morristown official to resign.