Cavendish Update 5/26/23: Schools/News/Events
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The Cavendish Historical Society Annual Plant Sale begins this evening with their Early Bird Special from 5:30-7:00 in front of the Museum and tomorrow, from 9-noon.
5/26/23
1. School/GMUSD/Restructuring/Resignations/Principal
2. CVFD Citizens as first responder workshops
3. Black River Water Testing Begins
4. Cavendish Info
5. Events
1. SCHOOL/ GMUSD/RESTRUCTURING FORUM/RESIGNATIONS/PRINCIPAL: Starting with the Green Mountain Unified School (GMUSD) Board meeting on Thursday, May 18, Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) and Green Mountain Union High School (GMUHS) have dominated the local news. At the GMUSD meeting, the board voted keeping the GMUHS mascot name of Chieftains. This prompted the resignation of three board members (two of Cavendish’s three reps, Kate Lamphere and Dennis Reilly) along with the resignation of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union (TRSU) Superintendent Lauren Fierman. Two of the three reps decided to return to their posts. After resignations, two former GMUSD members hope to return to posts. Chester Telegraph
On Tuesday, May 23, the CTES’s CPTG (Parent Teacher Group) held a forum on school restructuring. Due to the declining enrollment at CTES (projected to be 67 in the fall) and the overcrowding at the Chester Andover Elementary School (CAES) GMUSD has set up a Restructuring Committee. Approximately 40 members of the Cavendish community, representing parents, grandparents, alumni, home school families, concerned citizens, teachers and staff, came to the CPTG meeting and spoke about the importance of the school to the community. Among the suggestions made was aligning with Ludlow instead of Chester; expanding the use of the CTES building to include Pre K; offering specialized education (e.g. Waldorf, Montessori) and becoming a magnet school for the region. Frustration was voiced with the TRSU and their push to homogenize the education and breaking from CTES traditions that served students, staff and community. An informal show of hands indicated that many parents do not want to send their children to GMUHS, preferring school choice for high school. Following the meeting, many signed up to continue the discussion and help form a sub-committee of the CPTG that could help chart a new direction for the school, while also serving the community. A full report is available at The Dish.
Wednesday, May 24, was supposed to be the CTES Principal’s forum followed by a vote by the GMUSD board. With various candidates opting out, it left one candidate, Amanda Tyrell. While the Principal’s Forum was cancelled, the board chair, Deb Brown decided to meet anyway. The idea was to discuss next steps for the hiring of the principal, but in reality, she adjusted the agenda to discuss and act on resignations.
The board obviously didn’t think the meeting was “in-person worthy” and only one member, Cavendish rep Steve Parini, attended. With 80 + people on Zoom and 20 Cavendish community members in attendance the meeting was at best “a hot mess,” as one person described it, that no parent would want their kids to see.
The two members who wished to be reinstated to the board, including Cavendish Rep, Kate Lamphere, were able to achieve that, though it was not without quite a bit of Robert’s Rules of Order haggling.
The public comment period shed light on a number of issues at GMUHS as well as the negative impact the board is having on community, parents and teachers. The meeting was more “reality TV” than a school board meeting. A full report is available at The Dish. The Okemo Valley TV video of the meeting is available by clicking here.
Proctorsville resident Zachary McNaughton has started an online petition for a Vote of No Confidence in Deb Brown as GMUSD Board chair.
While the expression “the only constant in life is change” is noted frequently, it doesn’t mean that it is easy or that we do it well. We have just gone through a major pandemic that upended every one’s life only to be greeted with the reality of what the declining birth rate in the last five decades, particularly 2008-2013, has done to the student population. Changes have to be made as it’s a situation that impacts all segments of our communities, regardless of whether you have children or not.
The methods employed this past week to address planning for the future showed what works and what doesn’t. While Zoom has its place, it contributed to the fiasco of Wednesday’s meeting. However, that wasn’t the only issue at play. We have an expectation of our board members to be Zoom as well as computer literate, understand the ins and out of the very complex Roberts Rules of Order, as well as to be on top of every topic and piece of paper generated by the TRSU, their constituency and the state’s Agency of Education (AOE), all the while working, and maintaining families. Also note they are basically doing this as volunteers.
Because of these requirements, many in our community are being left out of the process unless they are given the opportunity to participate in the type of event set up by the CPTG on Tuesday evening.
Modifications are needed in how the GMUSD board conducts its business. In person meetings, particularly where voting is involved, with Zoom as a back-up, need to return. In fact, a lot of what has transpired could have been avoided if members were present and not on Zoom, where wandering cats, noise and other distractions take away from the business at hand. Secondly, everyone needs to be educated in Roberts Rules of Order.
Knowing Roberts Rules inside and out definitely gives one the upper hand, and those that do can easily manipulate a meeting to their own ends. Note that while the Cavendish Select Board (SB) operates with the same rules, it rarely, if ever, dissolves into the type of chaos seen on Wednesday night. Further, people have a chance to be heard. It doesn’t mean that the SB members will agree with them, but they have a place to voice opinions and are not constantly being barraged by “points of order” etc.
On Tuesday night, at the Cavendish Forum, the community showed how to deal with the tough issues with civility and good problem solving skills. We need to keep that momentum going.
2. CITIZENS AS 1ST RESPONDER TRAINING FROM CVFD: Accidents, injuries and other emergent health situations occur regularly in our community. You are the help until the help arrives and by taking simple actions immediately, you can help save a life.
The Cavendish Volunteer Fire Department (CVFD) is launching a series of training programs that are free and open to the public. Save the dates and more information will be provided closer to the event. For more information on the programs scheduled below, please call 802-226-7790
• Blood Pressure Checks-Stop by the Fire House Mon-Friday from 8-4 for free blood pressure checks.
• CPR: July 15 (Saturday) from 1-4
• Stop the Bleed: Slated for September
3. BLACK RIVER WATER TESTING BEGINS: With warmer temperatures comes the joy of jumping in the river, and the annual "Adopt-A-Swimminghole" campaign with the Black River Action Team. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of local businesses, regular weekly sampling will be conducted on several popular swimming and recreation areas. Volunteers with the B.R.A.T. are trained to collect water samples every Wednesday morning between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which will be tested for E. coli bacteria at Endyne Labs in Hanover NH. Results are generated into simple charts by B.R.A.T., and are posted either on site or in the local town office. NOTE: Results are posted at the Cavendish VT Facebook page as soon as they are available and included in the Cavendish Update. Results may also be viewed at https://connecticutriver.us/it-clean, so anyone can check the trend at their favorite cooling-off spot before visiting.
Sites being monitored this summer through the Adopt-A-Swimminghole program are:
• Buttermilk Falls, sponsored by Okemo Resort since the program began in 2012
• Black River at Greven Field in Proctorsville sponsored again by Betty McEnaney of Bean Group Real Estate
• Cavendish Gorge by Green Mountain Power
• Twenty-foot Hole by the Greater Upper Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited
• Recreation pond West Hill Rd in Ludlow sponsored again by Vermont Co-Pack. • Tolles Power Dam off Maple Street in Perkinsville is being sampled again this year, but the site is still available for "adoption" through the Black River Action Team. The "adoption fee" of $500 covers all lab testing and chart generation for the full 14 weeks of summer, as well as volunteer mileage.
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors and intrepid volunteers! To learn about B.R.A.T. and the Adopt-A-Swimminghole program, contact Director Kelly Stettner at blackrivercleanup@gmail.com or leave your contact information at (802) 738-0456.
4. CAVENDISH INFO
• Peter Kelleher: It is with sadness that we report the passing of Cavendish resident Peter Kelleher. An active member of the Cavendish Baptist Church, a memorial service will take place on June 17, at 2 p.m., at the Cavendish Baptist Church, located at 2258 Main Street, Cavendish, Vt. Donations in memory of Peter can be sent to Cavendish Baptist Church, P.O. Box 425, Cavendish, VT 05142
• Dan Churchill Memorial: The Memorial for long time Cavendish resident, community leader and business owner will be on June 4 (Sunday), 2 pm at Dan’s former home in Cavendish (Duttonsville School off of Rt. 131).
• Sign Up as a Volunteer for the CTES Carnival: A new event is taking place on June 5, at CTES-a Summer Kick-off Carnival! A fun family event for everyone! There will be games & activities, prizes, and the Rolling Rooster food truck! This event is free. Volunteers are needed to man the wide variety of booths and games. So families can enjoy this event, without a parent having to run off and man a booth, please consider volunteering. Sign up for a shift by going to https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4ca8a72bab9-carnival#/
5. EVENTS
MAY 26 (FRIDAY): Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) plant sale 5:30-7:00 pm in front of the CHS Museum.
MAY 27 (SATURDAY): CHS Plant sale 9 to noon
MAY 29 (MONDAY): Memorial Day. Town Office closed.
MAY 30 (TUESDAY): Cavendish Memorial Day program. 10 am at CTES, immediately followed by a parade to Hillcrest Cemetery.
JUNE 5 (MONDAY): E Tools Workshop at the 6:00 p.m., at the Cavendish town office to demonstrate battery-operated tools for the yard and garden. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments. FMI: CavendishCommunityConservation@gmail.com.
CTES Summer Kick Off Carnival
JUNE 7 (WEDNESDAY): CTES Spring concert 6 pm
JUNE 15 (THURSDAY): CTES 6TH grade graduation, 6 pm
JUNE 16 (FRIDAY): GMUHS graduation, Last day of school for GMUHS and CTES
JULY 29 (SATURDAY): Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale
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