Dear Neighbors,
On Saturday December 6, 2008 I received a petition with the required number of names petitioning the school board to call another meeting to reconsider the Leicester/Sudbury/Whiting vote that took place on November 10, 2008. By statute, the school board has 60 days to warn and hold a new meeting for a re-vote. Last night the school board set the date for the new meeting and vote to be Saturday, January 10, 2008 at 1:00 PM. Please spread the word to all interested voters who may not be on the email list. I will send out a reminder after New Years.
Thanks for your attention.
Anyone wishing to be added to the email list should send me an email bati@vtisp.com with "add me to the Sudbury Voter list" in the subject line.
Steve Sgorbati
Sudbury Town Clerk
2 comments:
To the voters of Sudbury, Whiting, Leicester and Brandon but especially to the registered voters in Sudbury. I want to be completely transparent in some actions that I have taken and explain my position. Some are angry with me and some are happy with me but nevertheless I have recently circulated a petition to re-vote on whether to authorize the Sudbury school board to appropriate $7,000 to gather information on what the costs would be to merge Sudbury, Whiting and Leicester into one unified school. Let me make one thing clear. This is NOT to vote “yes” on a school merger. This ”yes” vote is to gather facts and figures to make an informed decision in the future. I would also like to make it clear that I am not in favor of a school merger, tuitioning out students, keeping the Sudbury’s Country School as is or any other proposal. What I simply want is to make an informed decision based on facts and figures, obviously costs, effects on our taxes, what’s best for the students, and a plan that looks forward and not backward.
I understand the feeling of parents of children attending the Sudbury school and how it may affect them and their children. I understand the people of Sudbury who are having difficulties paying their taxes. I understand the effects of a new school and cost overruns and inflationary costs. I understand that homeowners around any site that may be proposed may have difficulties with a new structure close to them. I understand those who want to keep things they way they are. I also understand the “slippery slope” argument that if we vote “yes” to getting more information, that a school merger will be underway. We can control that by saying “yes” or “no” when the final vote comes up.
What I want is to make an informed decision based on more information. I believe that if we do nothing, we will lose control of the outcomes. Those outcomes include what’s best for the students and families and also costs, Some have said that I am against paying more taxes. That is simply not true. What I really want is to have the Sudbury voters control the outcomes of whether we choose to tuition out students (if we can), keep our school as is or build a new one. I want a plan that looks forward where we are in control. I want first what is best for the students and second something that will not price anybody out of their homes because of high taxes. I also want to ask that you understand my position as I do yours and ask that civility abound at any meeting that could possibly include a re-vote.
And finally, I want to express a strong opinion of mine. I think that the use of property taxes to pay for education is absolutely stupid. It is neither fair nor helpful when trying to pass budgets for local school systems. Education costs should be directly and progressively tied to federal and state income taxes. If I lived in a small hut and earned a six-figure salary, would it be fair for me to pay less tax than a local farmer with lots of necessary outbuildings and whose income is lower than mine. Not fair!
Vincent Jay Merluzzi
Sudbury, Vermont
Jay- I am not mad at you. No one is mad at you. Relax. If I were mad at you, believe me, you would be the first to know- :) Colleen
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