Quoted directly from the minutes from the March 2015 Elmore Town Meeting:
“Stuart Weppler explained that we are not at this time voting to merge, only getting input on whether the town’s people would like the school directors to further study a possible merge.”
“It was asked that when doing the study the board could look into other schools rather than just Morristown. Superintendent Tracy Wrend was on hand to answer questions. She pointed out that Morristown was the best option considering the bond that already exists and the close proximity. Stowe does not have the capacity to take the Elmore students.”
Not recorded in the minutes, but from my personal recollection, Stu Weppler gave as the reason for not exploring other options a survey in which Elmore residents indicated that they were not interested in other options. Apparently this survey was posted online on Survey Monkey and poorly publicized. What few voters did know about it were asked to choose among three options:
Do nothing.
Contract out Elmore’s students.
Merge with Morristown.
There was no choice for “Other” and no opportunity for voter input.
It would appear that, based solely on statements made by Stu Weppler and Tracy Wrend at the town meeting, the “Merger Study Committee” decided it was their mission to dismiss any other possible options and proceed to write Articles of Agreement for an Elmore-Morristown merger. Unlike the townspeople, they seem to have interpreted the results of the vote as a mandate to work out the details of a merger with Morristown, rather than study the feasibility of such a merger.
While it is true that the “Merger Study Committee” meetings were open to the public, they were all held on Tuesdays at 5:00PM, when it would be difficult for many people to attend, due to work schedules. Those community members who were able to attend were allowed to voice concerns and ask questions on the details of the Articles of Agreement, but anyone suggesting exploration of other avenues to possibly reduce our school taxes was told they either would not work or the community was not interested. The first real opportunity for a public discussion did not happen until August 12th, after the committee had already finalized their Articles of Agreement, and, except for a few minor details, they were ready to submit to the state for approval.
It truly is a shame that so much time and effort have been wasted on this issue. Now we need to begin a real, impartial study, involving input from any and all concerned Elmore residents, which we should have been doing since last March. The first step is to vote against this merger again on December 29. Hopefully the people who have been pushing so hard for the merger will finally respect the wishes of the voters of Elmore, and we can work together as a community to develop real solutions.
Education in Elmore 