1. Orleans Central Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee Report Presentation to Barton Community Forum February 10, 2016

2. Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46 High expectations for schools to meet the needs of today’s students – Education Quality Standards, Universal Pre-K, Act 77 Increasing poverty and addiction rates Growing inequity in student opportunity and outcomes High leadership turnover Fiscal challenges

3. Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46 Fiscal Challenges in VT in a Nutshell: Declining Enrollments + Increasing Costs = Higher Per Pupil Costs  Higher property tax burdens

4. Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46 Governance : Vermont arguably has the most complicated governance structure in the United States: Vermont has 362 school districts for 94,000 students as compared to… Maine, which has 164 districts for 185,000 students or… Maryland, which has 24 school districts for 866,000 students

5. Act 46: Creating PreK-12 Systems On or before July 1, 2019 educational opportunities in Vermont shall be provided through “sustainable governance structures” that provide PreK-12 educational opportunities at a reasonable cost.

6. Act 46: Creating PreK-12 Systems These governance structures are expected to achieve the following outcomes: Provide equity in the quality and variety of educational opportunities Lead students to meet or exceed the Education Quality Standards Maximize operational efficiencies through greater flexibility to manage, share, and transfer resources, with a goal of increasing district-level student-to-staff ratios Promote transparency and accountability

7. Act 46: Preferred Governance Structure A single PreK-12 district Serving at least 900 students That has one of the four most common structures: – Operates all grades PreK-12; – Operates PreK-8 and tuitions 9-12; – Operates PreK-6 and tuitions 7-12; or – Pays tuition for all students grades PreK-12.

8. Act 46: Getting to a Preferred Governance Structure Act 46 Includes incentives if Action IS Taken – Grants to fund studies like the one are doing now – Tax relief for districts who adopt new governance models early – $150,000 Transition grants for districts who adopt new governance models early – Limits on tax increases for districts who adopt new governance models early – Conversion of small school grants to “merger support grants” AND dis incentives If Action ISN’T Taken – Imposition of preferred structure – Disappearance of small school grants

9. Findings: OCSU Study Committee Orleans Central Supervisory Union (OCSU) secured a $20,000 study grant to form an Act 46 Implementation Study Committee The OCSU Board appointed 14 individuals to the Study Committee, which had at least one representative from each board The study committee met 12 times in October through February and voted to adopt a final draft of a report of their findings This afternoon we are seeking YOUR input on this report before we adopt the final report on March 2

10. Findings: OCSU Study Committee Adopt Unified Union Governance Structure WHY? Three Major Reasons 1.We have a 50-year history of successful collaboration and shared governance at SU level, and at HS level 2.A unified union governance model will offer ALL students more learning opportunities 3.A unified union model will provide opportunities to save money, assure OCSU communities receive Act 46 incentives, and avoid the impact of losing small schools grants

11. Findings: OCSU Study Committee We have a 50-year history of successful collaboration and shared governance at SU level, and at HS level – Orleans Central Supervisory Union has common pay schedules, common calendars, common special education services, and operates a prekindergarten program for all students… and these initiatives were put in place without undercutting local control. – Lake Region Union High School, which is governed by a regional board, provides a high quality program to ALL students in the district. LRUHS is recognized by US News and World Report as one of VT’s best!

12. Findings: OCSU Study Committee A unified union governance model will offer ALL students more learning opportunities – Our K-8 Districts do not provide comparable learning opportunities or support services (the next few slides offer some examples) – Sharing staff will enable OCSU K-8 schools to offer more specialized instruction (e.g. accelerated math and science programs; reading and math intervention; technology support) – The unified union governance model provides an opportunity for K-8 choice and an opportunity to reconfigure schools to optimize staffing and saving money without closing schools

13. Findings: OCSU Study Committee Language Arts MathScienceSocial Studies Humanities Albany375415240***350 Barton480 240 0 Brownington***450250***600 Glover470225 Irasburg***435 ***435 Orleans315 0 Minutes/Week/Subject Grades 6-8 *** Reading instruction and/or social studies embedded in humanities

14. Findings: OCSU Study Committee Algebra instruction varies from school-to-school – All OCSU K-8 schools have copies of LRUHS algebra curriculum – ALL OCSU students can earn an Algebra I credit at LRHS by getting a 75 or higher on the mid-term and final examinations developed by the LRUHS math department – Some Barton, Glover and Irasburg students physically attend courses at LRUHS – Orleans students take an additional 120 minutes of math/week to prepare for the LRUHS examinations, receive algebra instruction – Albany and Brownington students get additional help from 8 th grade instructors to prepare for LRUHS examinations

15. Findings: OCSU Study Committee

16. GuidanceNurseLibrarianReading Intervention Math Intervention Albany20340520390*** Barton268161403161 Brownington540*180NONE108 Glover305153305122NONE Irasburg338135***135482 Orleans103206***206 Students Per Support Staff * Above state minimum requirement of 350:1 *** Services provided by non-certified staff member

17. Findings: OCSU Study Committee FY 16 Tech Budget Tech $/Student Current Tech Value Tech Value/ Student Devices/Stu dent Albany$29,095$2,425$26,500$1,9431.28 Barton$27,747$1,722$30,205$2,298.64 Brownington$5,500$444$17,635$1,527.49 Glover$20,000$1,667$24,183$1,642.93 Irasburg$25,247$2,078$24,139$1,734.81 Orleans$40,000$5,714$27,548$2,2601.06 Technology Budgets, Availability

18. Findings: OCSU Study Committee A unified union model will increase the opportunities to save money, provide tax reduction incentives, and avoid the impact of losing small schools grants – Bulk Purchasing opportunities (e.g. food services, technology, heating oil, cleaning materials, etc.) – Administrative overlaps (moving from nine budgets to one reduces audit costs, staff time) – Sharing staff and resources among schools

19. Findings: OCSU Study Committee A unified union model will provide tax reduction incentives: The table on the right shows the amount the owner of a $200,000 home is projected to save over five years if OCSU changed its governance structure assuming an annual 3% increase in education spending an a 1% decrease in equalized pupils based on calculations provided by the State District5 Year Savings to Homeowner Albany$3,766 Barton$569 Brownington$439 Glover$2,357 Irasburg -$73 Orleans$1,938 Westmore$442

20. Findings: OCSU Study Committee A unified union model will avoid the impact of losing small schools grants: The table on the right shows the amount each of the districts currently receives for small school grants. If OCSU does not change its governance structure before January 2019 these grants will no longer be available DistrictFY 16 Small Schools Grant Albany$112,758 Brownington$105,043 Glover$94,078 Irasburg$82,948 Orleans$108,355

21. What Will Change in OCSU? Current Status Contracts: Employees covered by OCSU negotiated agreements Budgets: 9 budgets developed, adopted, voted on individually; budgets voted on in town meeting format; each board oversees budget. Boards: 9 Boards, 32 members Unified Union Contracts: New Board will negotiate with employee groups within 90 days Budget: One budget; voted on by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day; budget oversight determined by board policy Board: One Board with 17 members; representation based on 2010 census

22. What Will Change in OCSU? Current Status Facilities: Each district owns and is responsible for school buildings and grounds; each is responsible for maintenance and custodial services Personnel management: 8 separate Boards hire all staff members for their district Curriculum oversight: 7 boards responsible for assuring schools meet the Vermont Quality Standards. Unified Union Facilities: New district owns and is responsible for school buildings and grounds; it is responsible for maintenance and custodial services Personnel Management: One Board hires all staff for all schools Curriculum Oversight: One board accountable for meeting Vermont Quality Standards.

23. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Late February: OCSU Act 46 Study Committee holds public forums in each town gathering feedback on DRAFT report; legal review of report March 2: Following this round of public forums and legal review, OCSU Act 46 Study Committee adopts FINAL Report, including Articles of Agreement, submits report to Agency of Education for review in advance of submission to State Board of Education April 19: State Board of Education (SBE) reviews, acts on report, including the Articles of Agreement

24. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? ASSUMING State Board approval in April: Another round of public forums/hearings to inform public of governance vote on May 24 May 24: The proposal to adopt the Articles of Agreement goes to voters in each OCSU town along with a slate of candidates to serve on the Unified Union Board. The vote will be done by Australian ballot. ALL towns must vote to adopt the Articles of Agreement. Late May: If the electorate of each member district votes in favor of the proposal, the Town clerks will notify the Agency of Education of the vote tallies in their community Late June, early July: 30-45 days after the vote, the Agency of Education certifies the vote to the Secretary of State who, in turn, informs the town clerks of the formation of the new unified union board

25. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Late August: Within 60 days of the certification of the vote to the Secretary of State, the Agency of Education will convene an organizational meeting Following Organizational Meeting: Newly elected Board begin transition to controlling operation of all existing OCSU schools. The new board will: – negotiate contracts to go into effect after July 2017 – develop new policies – develop a budget for 2017-2018 to be voted on by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day, March 7, 2017. July 1, 2017: The unified union school district will be fully operational and the district boards elected for 2016-17 will no longer be in place.

26. QUESTIONS ??? Please submit additional questions and look for additional information on the OCSU web page: www.ocsu.org