Editorial

Education bill will bring big changes to state

Well, H.454 is a done deal. The Legislature passed the sweeping, controversial education reform bill Monday evening. The only thing left is for Gov. Phil Scott to sign the bill into law, something he said he will do and we expect will happen any day now.
The bill lays out a plan that will...

Weather or not: it’s been one wet year

It seems like Vermont and the greater Northeast have been wetter than normal. If readers feel a little dark and dreary about the weather, especially rainy weekend weather, there’s a reason for that. Vermont is on track for one of its rainiest years ever.
According to a report this week...

Way to go, graduates

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of graduation season. Colleges, for the most part, have completed their commencements. High schools are just getting started. Graduation at any level brings with it a certain amount of excitement, relief, concern, and fear of the unknown. That’s to be...

What will the future of AI bring to the world?

A little more than a week ago, the annual Southern Vermont Economy Summit was held here in the valley. The summit has become a yearly snapshot of what’s happening in the broader business world around the region and a peek into the future of the economy.
One of the more interesting...

Commission won’t have much say in ed future

Earlier this month, members of the Commission on the Future of Education in Vermont paid a visit to the valley. The commission, formed a year ago by the Vermont Legislature, is charged with studying Vermont’s primary and secondary education systems and recommending changes. They were visiting...

As librarians fear for livelihoods, Trump feted with luxury airliner

Last week we published an article by Lauren Harkawik about local libraries and how federal funding cuts might negatively affect them. State and local librarians and board members expressed their concerns that a potential 34% cut in federal funding, administered through the Institute of Museum and...

Voters show they care about schools, children

We’ve said it many times here in this space: There’s not too many things better in Vermont that a good Town Meeting. What’s even better? How about two towns meeting?
That what happened in Wardsboro Tuesday evening, when voters from Dover and Wardsboro got together for the River Valleys...

Legislature’s urgency may truncate Twin Valley turnaround timeline

A few weeks ago news editor Mike Eldred wrote about an independent report focused on the future of the Twin Valley School District (“Report lays out timeline for high school,” April 10). The report didn’t pull many punches, especially when it came to Twin Valley Middle High School in Whitingham...

School consolidation a retread from the state?

The next wave of public school reform appears to be building in the Legislature, ready to wash over Vermont and solve the seemingly always-escalating drama of educating our children.
This past Friday, the House passed H.545, calling it their “Education Transformation Plan.” If it...

Locals continue to roll up their sleeves and help

One of the great things about living here in the valley is how people in the community come together to get things done. A week ago reporter Lauren Harkawik wrote a story about one such effort, highlighting how families in Dover and Wardsboro came together to resurrect an elementary school...