Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union is hosting a public conversation on H.361, the education governance law signed by Gov. Peter Shumlin last week. The school boards of the supervisory union's member towns, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Hardwick, Stannard, Wolcott and Woodbury, have invited the public and the district's elected officials to join the conversation.
Aspects of the new law that will be addressed at the meeting include:
- Base tax rates
- Tax incentives for school district mergers
- homestead tax rates
- small school grants
- Education spending caps
- School district configuration
- Per pupil spending
"H.361 begins with a clear statement of the educational policy goals supported by the bill, and is comprised of multiple components ?that will impact our communities? over the next four years," a press release on the meeting states. The changes include "amendments to the base education amount, homestead property tax rates, per pupil spending, configuration of supervisory unions into supervisory districts, merger support grants for districts receiving small school grants, equalized pupil calculations, tax incentives, education spending caps, and increased reporting to maintain quality assurances during the transition."
The event is open to the public and will take place from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. on June 16, at the Woodbury Elementary School gym, 63 Valley Lake Rd., Woodbury. Questions about the event can be directed to Joanne LeBlanc, interim superintendent of Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union, (802) 472-6531.
