More than 500 Danville residents packed into the school gymnasium on Saturday afternoon to weigh in on whether to continue operating the town’s high school. An overwhelming number — 480 — said “no” to closing, compared to 75 people in favor of shuttering the school. Absent traditional bal lots, attendees cast their votes on small green pieces of paper. To school board chair Clayton Cargill, the large crowd and lopsided results — which lawyers advised last week were advisory in nature — were clear signs that Danville residents value their high school and community. After months of contemplating the closure, Cargill said he also felt a “massive sense of relief” that the prospect was off the table, at least for now. Still, education reform efforts in the legislature around school consolidation mean that that relief is likely only temporary. “I know it’s a short-term feeling, because there’s so much turmoil with Act 73,” Cargill said, “and I’m going to have to start taking what my town told me back to Montpelier.” Act 73, the education law passed in June, doesn’t call for school closures outright, but proponents of small, rural schools worry it will lead to them. Consolidation of school districts into larger governance structures, as recommended by the sweeping legislation, means school board members could be less connected to the Vermonters they represent, leading to more politicization and less responsiveness to local communities, according to Margaret MacLean, a member of the Rural School Community Alliance, a coalition of school boards, selectboards and community members from more than 100 Vermont towns, Furthermore, Act 73 calls for minimum class sizes, which could be difficult for some rural schools — particularly high schools — to meet, MacLean said. Danville resident and retired superintendent Mark Tucker speaking Saturday Credit: COURTESY OF JUSTIN LAVELY/NORTH STAR MONTHLY In light of such concerns, and research showing that consolidation does not automatically save money, a state redistricting task force recommended a plan for districts to share services such as special education and transportation — without combining governance structures. The group also called for voluntary district consolidations. Gov. Phil Scott and Education Secretary Zoie Saunders have panned the redistricting committee’s recommendations and instead want to move full steam ahead with consolidation, which, they say, coupled with education funding changes, will bring down rising property tax rates. The Commission on the Future of Public Education is finalizing its recommendations for a process that gives communities a voice in decisions around school closures, a charge the body was given under Act 73. But recent survey data and public comments made to the redistricting task force indicate that forced consolidation is still a hard sell to Vermonters. Eric Hutchins, a Danville resident and high school social studies teacher, said Saturday’s vote highlighted to him why Act 73 was not the best path for the state. “Some Vermonters prefer rural life, some prefer our more densely populated towns. They both offer a different kind of living and different types of schools … one isn’t inherently better than the other,” Hutchins wrote in an email. “Vermonters are smart enough to know that we can support both. We just have to be thoughtful and creative and respect local differences and preferences. Act 73 does none of that.” The post Danville Residents Vote to Keep School Open appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less