Budget requests on GM finance agenda Monday include bank building, new CTES playground Panel seeks public input from Baltimore Andover, Cavendish, Chester

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

At its Nov. 12 meeting, the Green Mountain Unified School District Finance Committee expressed its desire for public participation in its decision-making and asked The Telegraph to publicize that. The Telegraph, in turn asked that all documents to be used in the meetings be made public in time for people to look at them and form questions and suggestions for the committee.

Members of the GM finance committee discussing priorities as the budget process began in September

Noting that an agenda had been posted on the TRSU website, but no accompanying documents,  The Telegraph renewed its request at the GMUSD board meeting last Thursday and on Friday afternoon several pages of proposed budget additions were posted. See links to those documents below.

These are not final decisions, but discussion points for the committee, which is making choices based on the priorities it adopted earlier this fall. Those priorities are “basic skills” that include emphasis on early literacy, a STEAM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and an elementary school foreign language program. Also included in the documents are sheets outlining maintenance, repair and capital needs with estimates of the costs.

The agenda for the committee meeting includes a discussion of the numbers of students who may be coming to Green Mountain High School from the Ludlow Mount Holly district when Black River High closes next year. Each student comes with tuition of $17,000 and the ability of the district to expand its offerings may hinge on those numbers.

Among the administration’s proposals is to buy the former TD Bank building for an ‘in-house’ preschool program Telegraph file photo

There will be discussions of the administration’s priorities as well as those of the board. Under new business, the administration is asking to discuss the purchase of the TD Bank building on Main Street in Chester for a pre-school and a new playground for Cavendish Town Elementary School.

The bank building will be the subject of an online auction from Dec. 9 – Dec. 11, 2019

Click on the name of any document below to see a PDF version of it and consider attending the meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday Nov. 25 in the library at Chester-Andover Elementary School, 72 Main St. in Chester.

GMUSD Finance Committee meeting agenda

GMUSD Administration priorities for the 2020/2021 school year

Cavendish Town Elementary School 5 year facility projects

Chester-Andover Elementary School capital improvement/repair & maintenance needs

GMHS facilities needs

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  1. Wanda Purdy says:

    What? We just voted almost 5 million dollars for a new police/fire/ambulance building which is tax exempt. The bank building, which pays taxes, would be taken off the tax rolls too if voted in. People in this town think money grows on trees.