More than 500 people packed the gym at the Danville School Saturday as a special town meeting vote overwhelmingly came out in support of the town’s high school.
Clayton Cargill, Danville School Board chair, said the 480-75 vote to keep the school open was a historic showing for the small high school, which has about 80 students in grades 9-12 this year.
“We saw the most people that we’ve had in anybody’s memory in one place for a town meeting,” Cargill said during an interview on Monday. “Hundreds of more people than we’ve ever seen in that gym came out to tell the school board, 'Keep the high school open now, and fight to keep the school open going forward.'”
The vote, which was advisory, was held after enough Danville residents signed a petition in October asking for a townwide referendum on the future of the high school.
Vermont lawmakers are actively hammering out the details of a new education law, Act 73, which could bring about big changes to how towns like Danville pay for, and control, their schools.
More: Act 73 is already changing Vermont's education system
Cargill said regardless of what Montpelier does, or does not, do in the coming legislative session, the people in Danville clearly want their small high school to remain open.
“The petition itself was borne out of the uncertainty that Montpelier created,” Cargill said. “Our issue is to try to get answers where there are no answers right now, and none of this information is forthcoming.”
The vote came as the board develops a budget that voters will weigh in on in March.
The board is contending with many of the same issues other school boards around the state are confronting, including expensive facility upgrades, low class sizes and uncertainty over how school governance may change in the future.
“We’re going to look to control costs,” Cargill said. “We’re going to try to continue to be the center of the community, and we’ll let the town know what it costs, and they’ll let us know what they think.”
