Forum for Feb. 23, 2024: Hartford admins back DeBalsi
Published: 02-23-2024 5:11 PM |
Last Friday morning the Valley News ran an article that referenced a letter that Hartford School District administrators attempted to read at the Feb. 14 Hartford School Board meeting (“School leaders protest search,” Feb. 16). We felt that it was important to share the full text of the letter with the community because it speaks to concerns about the ongoing superintendent search and the need for transparency from the School Board. Given the board’s response to our intention to read the letter, we want to be clear that the letter is not a referendum on our current superintendent. In fact, our Administrative Council met Feb. 15 to process the previous night’s board meeting. We are entering an unprecedented budget cycle. Superintendent DeBalsi has led us down a thoughtful path to consider how to move through these challenges while remaining committed to our goals of equity and supporting all children. We support his leadership through this process and throughout the implementation of the budget next year.
Brian Boardman
Interim principal
Hartford Memorial Middle School
Amelia Donahey
Principal, Ottauquechee School
Rick Dustin-Eichler
Principal, Dothan Brook School
Scott Farnsworth
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Assistant director, HACTC;
Nelson Fogg
Principal, Hartford High School
Benjamin Gardner
Assistant principal, Hartford High School
Doug Heavisides
Principal, The Wilder School
Sarah Hisman
Interim Assistant Principal,
Hartford Memorial Middle School
Doug Kussius
Principal, White River School
Julia Lau
District Equity Coordinator
Jeff Moreno
Assistant principal, Hartford High School
Julie Robinson
Elementary curriculum director
Erica Rogstad
Interim director of special education
Carrie Russell
District social worker
Erika Schneider
Director, HACTC
William Slammon
Clinical Director
Caty Sutton
Secondary curriculum director
Aron Tomlinson
Director of workforce development, HACTC
Haverhill should shun SB2
I was honored to live in Haverhill for 36 years and to represent it for 12 years in the state Legislature. Last year, my wife and I sold our home in Pike and moved to West Lebanon to be closer to our son and grandson. So, of course, I am no longer voting in Haverhill elections. But I still care about this special community and urge Haverhill citizens to vote against SB2.
Town Meeting was always a special time in Haverhill as neighbors came together to discuss, debate and vote on issues important to the town. If voters approve SB2, that will be the end of traditional town meeting, replacing it with a deliberative session followed by voting on all warrant articles via paper ballot on the same day you vote for town officers.
Remember the confusion when there was no town meeting during COVID and people voted on warrant articles by paper ballot? Voting for SB2 would make that situation permanent. Some will argue that more people will vote, but open debate and discussion will be lost. Traditional town meeting, has worked well in Haverhill. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Doug Teschner
West Lebanon
Vote ‘no’ on Fairlee
short-term rental proposal
On Feb. 24, Fairlee residents will be asked by a group of petitioners to rescind the ordinance enforcing regulations governing short-term rental (STR) properties. The issuance of ordinances to enforce town bylaws is a responsibility as well as a prerogative of Vermont selectboards, and petitioning to rescind them is a legitimate right of residents. But voters should understand: The regulation of STR properties is not at issue here, only the enforcement ordinance.
Regulation of STRs was approved by a large majority of voters on July 11, 2023 as part of the amended Fairlee Unified Development Bylaws (UDB) after a two-year public drafting and vetting process and is not up for rescission. The ordinance, issued by the Selectboard in November 2023, simply authorizes the town to enforce these regulations at a local level, saving both the taxpayers and property owners a potentially lengthy, costly, and less flexible legal process at the state level.
I urge Fairlee residents to vote no to rescission of the short-term rental ordinance at the Town Hall, Saturday Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.
Copies of the ordinance and the UDB can be found in the Town Office and on the Fairlee website (fairleevt.gov). Direct specific questions to Town Administrator Ryan Lockwood, 802-333-4363 ext. 2 or townadministrator@fairleevt.gov.
Lynne Fitzhugh
Fairlee