GM budget passes by wide margin; Cavendish Elementary principal resigns

 

****Article updated at 5 p.m. Wednesday with quote from Superintendent Layne Millington.****

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

On March 3 – Town Meeting Day – 1,013 residents of Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish and Chester went to the polls and by a margin of 37 votes defeated the budget proposal put forward by the Green Mountain Unified School District board and the administration of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union. On Tuesday, May 12, 706 residents of the four towns turned out to approve the $19.3 million budget’s second chance by a vote of 427 to 279.

The 148 vote margin is exactly four times the margin it lost by in March.

The overwhelming win wasn’t the only surprise on Tuesday for the district, as Cavendish Principal Emma Vastola announced her resignation to school teacher and community parents in an email.

As elections go, it was a low turnout. At 12:30 p.m. only 27 votes had been cast in Andover with just 41 cast half an hour later in Cavendish. By mid-afternoon, Chester Town Manager Julie Hance said the vote had been steady but the normal lunch hour rush had not materialized.

As 7 p.m. approached, a few voters rushed in before Town Clerk Amie Record called time and Hance poured the ballots out on a table to be counted to confirm the Chester numbers prior to the vote count beginning. One by one, the representatives of the other towns brought their locked boxes of ballots to Chester Town Hall for the count.

By the terms of the articles of agreement that formed the district, the votes are not counted in each town, but are  co-mingled at Chester Town Hall and counted together. Representatives of each of the four towns are able to help with or observe the count. The Telegraph has routinely covered those counts since the merged district began electing board members and floating budgets.

Often after budgets are turned down, school boards look for cuts they hope will satisfy the voters, but the Green Mountain board contended that the budget proposal did not add any new programs or staff but that the 3.8 percent hike from the previous budget of $18.6 million was due to increased costs. The board then decided to re-submit its $19.3 million budget to the voters.

The board had to explain to voters that services remained the same as did the number of teachers while the increases were due to inflation. But it also had to explain that education dollars are pooled throughout the state and that cuts that would detract from student opportunities and force staff layoffs would not save a proportional amount for taxpayers.

On Tuesday night, GM board chair Lisa Sanders of Cavendish told The Telegraph that she is “really excited and appreciated that the towns and families are trusting us to do the right thing, making decisions that mean not only are kids going to get lots of opportunities but families want to be here and want to stay here and see value out of all the money they are trusting the schools with.”

Calls to Superintendent Layne Millington for comment were not returned on Tuesday evening. 

In an email received by Superintendent Layne Millington late Tuesday, he wrote, “On behalf of the entire district, I want to extend our sincere thanks to the Green Mountain community for your support. Your vote reflects a shared commitment to our students, staff, and schools. I would also like to recognize and thank our dedicated staff for their patience and professionalism throughout this process, as well as the board for their thoughtful work and leadership. We understand that taxes in Vermont are high, and that makes your support all the more meaningful. Please know that we are deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in our district.”

The number of votes cast per town breaks down as follows:

• Andover – 92
• Baltimore – 17
• Cavendish – 161
• Chester – 436

It’s not unusual for local school budgets to face opposition. In 2024, three votes had to be taken on the GM budget before it was finally passed. It was first defeated by 79 votes, then again by 120 votes before winning approval by 170 votes. The turnouts for those March, April and June ballots were 1,319, 560 and 900 respectively.

Vastola asks to be released from principal contract

Early Tuesday morning parents, teachers and others in the CTES community received an email from the school’s principal saying that she wanted the GM district to release her from her contract, with one year left. She indicated she would stay on through the end of the school year.

It came as a complete surprise,” said Sanders. “And I really don’t know more than what was in the letter that Emma sent to Cavendish families … I know it will be on the upcoming agenda to accept her resignation.”

Sanders noted that Vastola has one year left on her contract.