CVSD Update June 2024

 

Dear CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers,

The last official CVSD Update of the year is ready for your viewing. There's a lot to celebrate this week; we've focused on some details to help you end the year smoothly with support for a safe and healthy summer. 

• A message from Superintendent Sanchez
• Celebrating CVSD's Retirees
• Summer meals information
• Let's Talk winding down
• and more! 

Thank you for reading and for all you've done to support our students. 

Reach out via Let's Talk (for a few more weeks) to share questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or kudos!

CVSD Update May 2024

 

Dear CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers, 

The latest edition of the CVSD Update is now available! There's a little less content, which we hope will make for easy viewing. It does include important details, announcements, and celebrations. 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Summer EBT Program to Help Feed Kids
• Introducing Stopfinder
• Celebrations
• Events and Dates to Remember 
• and more

Thank you for taking the time to view it. 

Reminder- Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day and there's no school.

 

As always, reach out via Let's Talk to share questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or kudos!

CVSD Interim Superintendent Announcement

 Here's a guest post from CVSD's Board of Directors

Dear CVSD Community

The CVSD Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Adam Bunting, CVU’s principal, has been appointed to the role of Interim Superintendent of the Champlain Valley School District for the 2024-2025 school year. Adam has served as the principal of CVU for nine years and has led collaborative teams to envision, design, and implement personalized, proficiency-based learning for CVU’s 1,300 students.

Prior to serving in his current role as the CVU principal, Adam was a teacher and house director at CVU. He has served on several statewide councils, and was previously the principal at Montpelier High School. These experiences, along with Adam’s focus on students and deep understanding of CVSD’s educational systems, will be critical in executing our strategic plan and addressing the statewide education funding challenges that are impacting our schools.

CVU and CVSD administrators will name an interim CVU principal before the end of this school year. Both Adam and the interim principal will officially begin their positions on July 1, 2024.

We would like to express our appreciation to Superintendent Sanchez for his contributions to the district over the past three years and look forward to working with Adam and his administrative team in the coming year as we continue to focus on the growth and belonging of all of our students.

The school board will begin the search for a permanent superintendent in the fall and will continue to share more information on that process when it begins.

Sincerely,

The Champlain Valley School District Board of Directors

Thank You from CVSD

Dear CVSD Community,

Yesterday, the Champlain Valley School District community voted in favor of our FY25 budget, with 4,358 voting in favor and 2,947 against. First, and above all else, thank you. With the passage of the proposed budget, the school district can return to focusing on preparation for the end of this school year and the beginning of the next one.

We know that the past few months have been difficult. We had to make hard decisions affecting programming and services supporting our students in our schools—directly or indirectly—every day. We value and care for all of the people who hold positions that are impacted and appreciate all they have done for our schools.

Seeing how our community came together to support our schools has been a bright spot. We would like to thank everyone who engaged in the effort - the educators who held visibility events, our parent groups who organized budget meetings, our students who voiced their concerns, community members who spoke to neighbors about the school budget, and every other person who supported our schools. Hearing what you love about the district, what you feel is most valuable to our students, and the importance of CVSD's collective work will continue to guide us.

We know we still have more work to do over the coming years to control costs. We are committed to this work and are actively working through these strategic decisions both at the district level and advocating for CVSD at the state level. We encourage you to stay engaged in this process going forward.

Again, thank you, voters, for supporting our schools.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Meghan Metzler, Chair, CVSD Board of Directors

 

April 11, 2024 Update

 Dear CVSD Community,

Please take a moment to read the latest district update. It includes: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• An explanation about RIF notices
• Additional Budget Information
• Reminders and Events

Thank you so much for engaging in this process with us.

 

 
As always, reach out via Let's Talk with any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or kudos!

Proposed Budget Updates and Resources

 Dear CVSD Community,

We are writing to share a reminder and resources about the proposed 2024-2025 budget. 

• Reminder: Please join district administration and school board members at tomorrow's CVSD Budget Virtual Town Hall. 
• Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 6:30 pm
• The Zoom information to join is on the left side of the district's website and on the budget page of the website

• The new Budget FAQs (frequently asked questions) resource is now available. We will add to it as we receive more questions, so check back! 

• Included in the FAQs is a link to a separate document with a chart of specific reductions. 

• Please check out the Budget Information for the April 16th vote.

• See this blog post about yesterday's Legislative Breakfast. Our school board hosted the event to connect with legislators. Education and property taxes were the main topics discussed. 

We hope this information is helpful and provides answers to any questions you may have about the proposed budget. We will post this on the budget page of our website for easy future access. 

For more information, please visit our Budget page on the district's website, use the Let's Talk School Board or Budget topics, or email the school board with questions. CVSDschoolboard@cvsdvt.org

Superintendent Message to Families

March 20, 2024

Dear CVSD Community:

I hope this note finds you well.

As you may already know from last night’s CVSD board meeting, I will be stepping down as superintendent at the end of this school year. I am honored to have served as the CVSD superintendent for three years, and, please know, the district and the five towns will always hold a special place in my heart.

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished during these last three years. CVSD has excellent forward momentum to further our progress in serving our students and community. In particular, by using our demographic study to assist in budgeting and review of facilities, implementing our equity audit to improve accessibility and inclusiveness for our students and staff, and utilizing our new data warehouse to readily and quickly identify and address student needs and opportunities for enrichment, we will enhance our status as one of the best school districts in Vermont. Additionally, the development of a unified, community-built strategic plan sets us on a path to work with a shared vision for the future success of students, staff, and the operations of our district.

I am proud of the work that each CVSD employee and the school board perform every day in support of our students. Preparing the next generation of Vermonters for the world of the mid- and late 21st century is challenging but rewarding work. The caring, loving, and empathetic approach of our teachers and staff is one of the things that I most value about our remarkable district.

As we look ahead, there is still important work to be done, and I am dedicated to ensuring a strong finish to the school year. I will continue to be actively involved in our schools and community, advocating for our shared vision of excellence in education.

For the 2024-25 school year, the school board will appoint an interim superintendent and more details will be communicated in the coming months.

I’d like to thank you for welcoming me to Vermont and for all you do to make CVSD a great place. I look forward to seeing you in the days and months to come.

Sincerely,

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Champlain Valley School District

March 8 Budget Update

Hello CVSD Families, Caregivers, and Community,

This is a quick note to update you at the end of the week on where we are in the process of bringing a new budget to the community. On Wednesday afternoon, we emailed this statement to our families and community.

For context, we are not the only district in the state whose budget did not pass on Tuesday, Town Meeting Day. Twenty-nine other districts will need to re-warn their budgets (fourteen out of twenty-one in our four-county region), sixty-four budgets passed, and twenty-six other districts are waiting on results, postponing their elections, or voting at a later date.

Since the morning after the budget vote, our entire administrative team has been working on a revised budget proposal, with a focus on identifying reductions that will have the least impact on students. This proposal will be shared with the school board for review at a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 12. The board will consider the administration’s proposed new budget and either adopt it or recommend a change.

Finally, we must warn the budget for at least thirty days. If the board approves or decides on a different budget number on Tuesday, we hope to hold an election on April 16, 2024, before the April school vacation week.

During the thirty days of warning, the administration and the Board will offer opportunities for everyone to learn more about the new proposed budget and its updated tax implications for residents. We also plan to mail out a more condensed budget document to help inform our community about the proposed budget, similar to what we typically send out each year. That didn't happen previously due to the last-minute changes from the legislature in late-January and February. We will update our website to ensure the latest information about the budget is available.

Thank you so much for your support of our schools and our students. Have a great and restful weekend.

Rene

Post Election Statement

Hello CVSD Community Members,

Thank you for participating in this year’s Town Meeting Day elections. More than 8500 votes were cast for our four articles, and three of the four passed: the bond for new buses, the application of the district’s fund balance as revenue on a future budget, and the additional funds needed to support the 2022 facilities bond.

Unfortunately, Article VII, our annual budget, did not pass last night. While we are disappointed in the election results, we appreciate the insight we gained from our community through the voting process. With your vote, and through various other methods, we heard that the community overwhelmingly supports our schools. However, the state education funding formula, which caused our property taxes to increase dramatically, was a bridge too far for most. The voices and perspectives from within our schools and from our five towns continue to be essential as we plan for the future direction of our district.

Next steps for the board and administration include taking a closer look at our proposed FY25 budget to see where reductions might be made that will have the least impact on our students and schools. The board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 12, at 6 pm, to consider a new proposed budget. Because budget articles need to be warned for 30 days, we anticipate a re-vote in mid-April.

Thanks again for your participation and continued support as we navigate this challenge together.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

 

CVSD Update February 2024

 

Dear CVSD Families and Caregivers,

We know that a lot of information has been coming your way in the last few weeks about the proposed 2024-2025 budget. There are other exciting things to celebrate about our district.

This edition of the CVSD Update, our monthly district newsletter, contains information about the proposed budget and much more. We hope you'll take the time to check it out.

Some highlights: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Budget resources
• Celebrations
• Upcoming events- don't miss the DEI event in March to learn about the Somali community in Vermont
• Announcements and updates from our partners
• and more!

We hope you can spend time next week with family and friends. Please remember to vote on or before March 5!

Feel free to reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or kudos.

Understanding the Proposed 2024-2025 Budget

At Tuesday night's Champlain Valley School District's school board meeting, the board voted to adopt the finance committee’s recommendation to move forward with the originally warned budget that they spent more than six months reviewing and evaluating.

• At the meeting, CVSD Board vice chair and finance committee chair Meghan Metzler read this statement to begin the discussion. https://bit.ly/FinanceCommStatement

• After the meeting, Superintendent Sanchez shared this letter as well. https://bit.ly/SuptFeb2024

• Here are some budget highlights to help our community understand important elements of the proposed budget. https://bit.ly/FY25BudgetHighlights

If you are able, please attend tonight's CVSD Virtual Budget Town Hall to get more information about the proposed budget and your questions answered. To join, please find the Zoom link on the left side of the district's homepage. https://www.cvsdvt.org/

We deeply appreciate the support this community has shown us and we hope you can continue to do so.

All of the documents above are also shared on the Budget page of the district's website:
https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget

February 12 CVSD Proposed Budget Update

We wanted to follow up on the email and notice we sent last week with another update about the Champlain Valley School District’s proposed budget. Last week, Vermont's lawmakers discussed making a significant change to Act 127. They're considering getting rid of the 5% cap on pre-CLA tax rates and replacing it with a tax-rate discount (as outlined in H.850). It's an unusual discussion. Nothing has been decided yet.

The new bill also includes language about potentially delaying school district budget voting if districts choose to do that.

It's important to know that any changes to Act 127 have to go through the whole legislative process. If this law is changed, it would start affecting things from the 2024-2025 school year onwards, and it could impact the tax rate increase we proposed.

CVSD’s finance department, superintendent, and the Board’s chair and vice-chair have been closely monitoring the meetings in Montpelier. On Tuesday, February 13 at 6 pm, the Board’s finance committee will meet to discuss options for CVSD. Information to view that meeting is posted on the district’s website calendar on the left of the homepage. https://www.cvsdvt.org/ The next full Board meeting is scheduled for February 20th.

These articles may provide some helpful information.

• Lawmakers move to replace controversial property tax cap with targeted ‘discount’, VTDigger, February 9, 2024 
• With Large Tax Hikes Looming on Town Meeting Day, School Districts Ask the State for Help, Seven Days, January 31, 2024 
• Story from Vermont Public on the rising cost of education, January 12, 2024 

We will do our best to keep all members of the CVSD community informed about the next steps for our district’s proposed budget.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

February 5 Proposed Budget Update

The CVSD School Board approved the proposed 2024-2025 budget to present to voters on Town Meeting Day ballots at the January 23, 2024 school board meeting. The proposed budget is now a warned article on the ballot.

However, the Vermont legislature is currently considering changes to Act 127, the new education funding law. Their review may require us to modify our proposed school district budget and possibly when we vote on the upcoming school year’s ballot articles.

We wanted to let all of our community members know that we are aware of this and will do our best to keep you informed as we learn more. We will reschedule community presentations about the proposed budget and will update associated materials when we have clarity.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

CVSD Update, January 2024

 

Hello CVSD Community,

We are happy to share the January issue of the CVSD Update, a newsletter for all CVSD families, caregivers, and community members. 

In this issue, you will find: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Reminders about upcoming events 
• Information about the proposed school budget and bond for 2024-2025
• The full version of our Strategic Plan
• Information about the K-4 report cards
• Updates from our community partners
• and more

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Feel free to reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or kudos. 

CVSD Update, December 2023

 Hello,

We are happy to share the December issue of the CVSD Update, a newsletter for all CVSD families, caregivers, and community members. 

In this issue, you will find: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Reminders about upcoming events 
  • There is a board meeting and budget presentation tonight!
  • Our rescheduled December Virtual Town Hall is tomorrow night!
• Information about how decisions for cancelations and snow days are made
• Updates from our community partners
• and more

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Feel free to reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or kudos. 

A Statement from Superintendent Sanchez

 

Dear CVSD Community and Families,

We are writing in response to the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington over the weekend. We know that law enforcement is working hard to determine what led to such an atrocity. The Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) expresses its unwavering opposition to hate speech, religious persecution, racism, and violence. 

We urge everyone to approach one another with compassion and empathy. As always, we offer support to those who might need it through school counselors, trusted staff members, and for staff, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

CVSD is committed to fostering a safe and nurturing environment for everyone. The district remains dedicated to growth and — especially — belonging for all as we continue to come to terms with what is happening nearby and in the global community. 

Thank you to all in our schools and at home for providing care and support for our students and one another.

Respectfully,

Rene Sanchez

CVSD Superintendent

CVSD Update November 2023

 

Dear Families, Caregivers, Faculty, and Staff, 

There are some exciting elements in the latest CVSD Update: 

• View a letter of thanks from Superintendent Sanchez
• Get a unique look at CVU's class of 2002 (yes, the date is correct)
• Learn about Harkness
• Stay informed and get involved in the district and your schools
• See updates from our community partners
  
• and more!

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or compliments. 

Champlain Valley School District

CVSD Update October 2023

 

Dear CVSD Families and Caregivers, 

Please enjoy the October issue of the CVSD Update, which is chock-full of important information and announcements, including: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• An update about the VTCAP assessments
• News about the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse
• Upcoming events
• and more! 

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or compliments. 

Champlain Valley School District

CVSD Update September 2023

 Dear CVSD Families and Caregivers,

Wow- we are aware that some of you have received a number of communications today from our schools. We especially thank SCS families and caregivers for your flexibility in an unexpected situation. (For those who don't know, there was a water main break in Shelburne and students were dismissed this morning.)

We do want to keep other things flowing and are sharing the September issue of the CVSD Update with all of you. It includes: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• A link to the CVSD Fall 2023 Climate Survey for all families and caregivers to complete
• It's Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
• It's Hispanic Heritage Month
• Current guidance from the VT Department of Health
• and more!

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or compliments. 

CVSD Update, August 2023

Dear Families, Caregivers, and CVSD Faculty/Staff,

We are so excited to kick off a new school year this week. For most of you, that's tomorrow! Please view updates in the latest CVSD newsletter.

It includes:

• A video welcome from Superintendent Sanchez
• Celebrations
• Reminders (get those PowerSchool forms in today if you haven't already!)
• Communication reminders
• a little bit more, but not too much!

As always, reach out using Let's Talk with questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or compliments.

Welcome back!

Champlain Valley School District