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. 

CVU Student Recognized for Innovative App Design

Congratulations to Clay Nicholson, a 10th grader from Williston, who was selected by US Representative Becca Balint's office as this year's Vermont winner of the Congressional App Challenge. Clay submitted the video below as part of his application. In the video, Clay outlined his app called Lexiscan. Clay not only conceptualized the idea but also brought it to life by personally developing the app. In his video, he shares that his motivation stemmed from observing the challenges faced by a friend with dyslexia while reading. We highly recommend viewing the video.

This is the third year in a row that a CVU student has been recognized for this contest! Way to go CVU computer science! 

The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during their annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, theCoderSchool, Facebook, Replit, Accenture, and others.

Thank you to Becca Balint for supporting this effort. At this time, the Congressional App Challenge website has not yet been updated to showcase the 2023 winners. 

See our posts about the other CVU winners! 

2022

2021

Congratulations, Clay!

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. 

CVSD's National Board Certified Educators

Three additional educators in the Champlain Valley School District, all based at the Williston Central School, have attained National Board Certification, a significant achievement in the field of education.

We extend our sincere congratulations to:

Colleen O'Brien - Early Adolescence Mathematics
Courtney Sherman - Exceptional Needs Specialist, Early Childhood through Young Adulthood
Deb Laskarzewski - World Languages, Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood

Two educators maintained their certification, which is also a proud accomplishment. Congratulations to Erin Crowley (ABS) and Andrea Griffin (WCS). 

Colleen, Courtney, and Deb join others in CVSD who have achieved this recognition. At fifteen, our district has the largest number of Board Certified Educators in the state of Vermont! 

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National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.

Created by teachers, for teachers, the National Board Standards represent a consensus among educators about what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Board certification is available in 25 certificate areas spanning 16 disciplines from Pre-K through 12th grade.

The certification process requires that teachers demonstrate standards-based evidence of the positive effect they have on student learning in alignment with the Five Core Propositions. They must exhibit a deep understanding of their students, content knowledge, use of data and assessments and teaching practice. They must also show that they participate in learning communities and provide evidence of ongoing reflection and continuous learning.

Special Guests at HCS

Matt Meuneir, the Student Assistance Professional (SAP) at CVU, is an assistant coach for the St. Michael's College baseball team. The coaches ask their players to be thinking of ways they can help their community. The senior captain had the idea of doing a toy drive for a group of young students. The team decided that Hinesburg would be a great place to do it. Matt reached out to HCS saying some of his players wanted to give back to a school. The players wanted to do something for the kindergarteners. 

Eight players visited with the kindergarten classes at HCS yesterday with the head coach.

Thank you for such a thoughtful and generous visit!