The Sharon, Strafford, First Branch and White River Valley school district budgets all passed. Thank you to all of our community members for coming out and engaging in important conversations about our schools. Interested in learning more about the important work the school boards do? Consider attending one of their meetings which are listed here:

The legal voters of the Town Strafford School District are hereby notified and warned that the informational meeting will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2026 at 10:00 o'clock am as the Strafford Town House and via a virtual online meeting.

The legal voters of the Town of Strafford School District are hereby NOTIFIED and WARNED to VOTE BY AUSTRALIAN BALLOT either via mail as provided by the Town Clerk or at the Strafford Town Office on MARCH 3, 2026 between the hours of 9:00 o'clock AM (when the polls will open) and 7:00 o'clock PM (when the polls will close) and thereby act on the following questions:

WHITE RIVER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING WARNING

The legal voters of the White River Unified School District, consisting of the towns of Bethel and Royalton, are hereby notified and warned to meet at the Bethel Campus of the White River Unified School District, in Bethel, Vermont on March 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM to consider and act upon the following articles (1-10) and to discuss the articles to be voted upon by Australian ballot (Articles 11 only).

TOWN OF SHARON SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING WARNING MARCH 2,2026

THE LEGAL VOTERS OF THE TOWN OF SHARON SCHOOL DISTRICT ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED and WARNED TO MEET AT THE SHARON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 135 SCHOOL STREET, lN SHARON VILLAGE ON MONDAY MARCH 2, 2026 AT 6:00 PM, TO TRANSACT THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS:

The legal voters of the First Branch Unified District, comprised of the Towns of Chelsea and Tunbridge, are hereby WARNED and NOTIFIED to meet at the Tunbridge Campus of the First Branch Unified School District, in Tunbridge, Vermont on March 2, 2026, in the gym, at 7 00 p.m. to conduct the following business:

White River Valley Supervisory Union Superintendent Kinnarney spoke in Montpelier Thursday at a press conference with the Let’s Build Homes coalition, as it unveiled its 2026 legislative agenda aimed at addressing the state’s housing shortage. Kinnarney joined legislators and health care, education, and industry leaders to highlight the urgent need to address the housing crisis.

Kinnarney spoke to the impact that the crisis has on rural towns and their school enrollment saying “We can all agree that filling our schools with children is better than closing them. I ask that policymakers focus on how to fill our communities with families and our schools with kids, rather than making communities less attractive to newcomers by forcing schools to close. We need to approach our challenges by looking to grow our great state, rather than reactionary policies that could result in ghost towns throughout rural Vermont.”

You can read more about the event here: https://vermontbiz.com/news/2026/january/15/lets-build-homes-reveals-2026-vermont-legislative-agenda

White River Valley Supervisory Union (WRVSU) Superintendent Jamie Kinnarney testified Tuesday during a joint Senate & House Education Committee hearing in Montpelier. He reiterated his concerns for the future of our community schools with how enacting Act 73 is currently proposed. Kinnarney said his priority was to "make certain that unintended consequences do not result in a detriment to our students, or the future of our rural towns and greater state."

Kinnarney recommended a collaborative approach for reform to achieve the goals of Act 73. During his testimony, Kinnarney proposed that school systems be given a timeline and allowed to voluntarily merge before any deadline set by the legislature. Voluntary mergers, which have worked for WRVSU in the past, would create greater efficiencies and reduce redundancy, while continuing to support local democratic control.

We encourage our community to read the testimony here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P4Em1pRW7915JXmimUWTrx1qmKFXHJcX8D3s6r4DTO4/edit?usp=sharing

A video of the hearing is available here https://www.youtube.com/live/55TZgj4Z0pA?t=5173s with Superintendent Kinnarney's testimony beginning at the 1:26:00 mark.

WRVSU will continue to update the community as work on Act 73 progresses in the legislature.