Cavendish Update: 5/4/18 School/News/Events
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A wind advisory has been issued for our area this evening starting at 8pm.
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5/4/18 Cavendish Update
1. Cavendish Related News
2. CTES/GMUSD
3. The Happy Hound Salon, Proctorsville, VT
4. Local Household Hazardous Waste Collections Coming Soon
5. Events
1. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS
CHS May Briefs: The Cavendish Historical Society’s May Briefs are now available at their blog. This is a good way to catch up on what CHS is doing this month and the summer ahead.
Annual Spring Rummage Sale: Black River Good Neighbor Services will hold its annual Spring Rummage Sale at Fletcher Farm, 611 Route 103 South in Ludlow on Friday and Saturday, May 18th and 19th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday May 20th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and they are looking for volunteers to help. The sale will feature clothing, housewares, books, linens, furniture and all manner of goods. FMI: 802-228-3663
The Message of the Week Has Closed: Robert Miller of KMA Publications Inc., owner and publisher of The Vermont Journal and The Shopper, announced Friday, April 27, 2018 that he has purchased The Message of the Week. The sale will merge the newspapers but continue to be published only under The Vermont Journal and The Shopper banners. The merger will also expand coverage, helping to strengthen local news and readership. The Message, as a separate entity, will cease publication immediately. VT Journal
2. CTES/GMUSD:: On Monday night’s Green Mountain Unified School District (GMUSD), with over 400 signatures on a petition to make the principal position at Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) permanent and full time, and an audience of over 40, including most of the CTES teachers, watching, the board voted to make the position permanent and full time. However, this would be a one-year contract.
The position was to be posted immediately. On the Two Rivers Supervisory Union website and SchooSpring, the position is “re posted” but it was done in such a way that it implies full time but not permanent. Consequently various members of the community wonder if this is just a back door approach for an interim principal. By way of explanation of the job posting, Meg Powden e-mailed Donna McNeil-Hudkins our Human Resources Coordinator --- told me that when we post positions on SchoolSpring there are fields that have to be selected. One of the fields is the year of hire for that posting.
While the job has been posted, the TRSU is organizing a new search committee. CTES is looking for two community members to serve on the search committee for the Principal position. If you are interested or need more information please email Meg Powden at meg.powden@trsu.org. Please contact Meg by May 11th if you would like to be part of the committee.
Also part of this special meeting was to elect three GMUSD board members to the Two Rivers Supervisory Union board. While four people offered to serve on the board, three were voted to represent the GMUSD-Marilyn Mahusky (Chair of the GMUSD); Joe Fromberger (Andover representative) and Fred Marin (Cavendish representative). None of these members have children in a GMUSD school. Doug McBride, Cavendish representative, was voted in as an alternate.
• Thank you To Residents for Signing CTES Principal Petition: To the communities of Cavendish, Chester, Andover, Baltimore, Ludlow, and Mount Holly, we want to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for supporting our petition to reinstate the position of CTES principal as full-time and permanent. We had received 401 signatures including residents of all the towns that make up the GMUSD and TRSU before we closed it down after last night’s GMUSD board meeting. We are grateful for your support. In this time of unsettling change across our state, it’s humbling for us all to see so many people stand together in support of a community school. VT Journal
• GMUSD Votes to Make CTES Principal Permanent But New Adverts lists Position only as “full time” Chester Telegraph
• Scott Pitches Plan to Patch School Funding Gap: The Scott Administration proposed a plan on Tuesday to plug a $58 million hole in the education fund with one-time money. The sources of the funding include $19 million from a tobacco settlement, $20 million from state surplus revenues, $7 million in reserves and $12 million from other sources. The money will be paid back over time, mainly by asking schools to reduce the size of educational staff over the next five years. If the lawmakers and the Scott administration don’t fill the funding gap — which was created by the use of one-time money last year — taxpayers will be on the hook for a 5-cent to 7-cent increase in property taxes this coming fiscal year. VT has the lowest student to staff ratio in the country and per pupil spending is one of the highest. The one-time funding proposal not only reins in rates at 2017 levels for the coming fiscal year; it is also part of a plan that keeps rates level over a five-year period by reducing school teaching and paraprofessional staff statewide by about 1,000 jobs over five years, through retirements and other job vacancies. There are currently 76,000 students in Vermont, down from a high of 104,000. The Agency of Education estimates that number will drop to 69,000 students over the next five years. VT Digger
3. NEW BUSINESS-HAPPY HOUND SALON: Coming in June, a full service dog salon specializing in puppies, senior dogs and dogs with special needs. This new Proctorsville business will offer walk-in nail trims, full grooms, splash-n-dash, and cater to all breeds of dogs. From 'just nails and a bath' to blueberry facials and pawdicures they’ll help keep your pet feeling their best! Now taking June appointments. The first 20 people to book an appointment will get 20% off their first groom! FMI: Facebook, website or e-mail thehappyhoundsalon@gmail.com
4. HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTIONS: The Southern Windsor/Windham Counties Solid Waste Management District is sponsoring free events for the collection and safe disposal of household hazardous wastes on Saturday, May 12 and Saturday, May 19. Only residents and small businesses from Andover, Athens, Baltimore, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Ludlow, Plymouth, Reading, Rockingham, Springfield, Weathersfield, West Windsor, and Windsor may participate. Businesses must pre-register and will be charged for disposal costs. The collections will be held at the Springfield Transfer Station from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on May 12 and at the Weathersfield Transfer Station from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on May 19. Bring in a mercury fever thermometer and receive a new digital fever thermometer. For more information, call 674-9235 or visit www.vtsolidwastedistrict.org for a list of what to bring.
5. EVENTS
MAY 5 (SATURDAY): Happy Cinco de Mayo
• Green Up Day Begins at 9 pm on the Cavendish Green. Note that you can Green Up at other times and bring the trash to the transfer station.
For information on upcoming events, go to the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For area events, check the Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce calendar.