Views of Dummerston - 2021#1 - Winter

Page 1

Art by Gary Blomgren

Volume 31 Issue 1

Winter~ 2021

Cutting the Ice

Free • Since 1990

Communications District Advances Broadband Plans By Eric Lineback

8th-grade students enjoy the new ice skating rink behind Dummerston School.

Vote to Dissolve Unified Board Included in Town Meeting Agenda By Thomas Nolan,

Dummerston Representative, WSESD Board

As we head through winter, the unified Windham Southeast School District continues to focus its work on coping with COVID. While at present the threat is as bad as it’s ever been, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel and a path toward reopening schools completely for in-person learning. The board is currently taking on a large project at Academy School that would bring an addition to the building and renovation of problematic decades-old windows. We are

looking over the financial costs and ways of making the project as environmentally responsible as possible. This project will bring much-needed additional space to the school. Perhaps the biggest topic on the horizon is the new question that will be on this March’s ballot: should we dissolve the newly united district and revert to town school boards? Several years back, after the passage of the controversial Act 46, the four towns in the district were asked whether to remain separate, or if they wanted to merge into what has become the WSESD. All four towns continued on page 10

As we take stock of the profound challenges we faced in 2020, and continue to face in the new year, one thing that stands out is the universal need for equitable, sustainable broadband. Though we are not out of the woods yet with COVID-19, we do understand more about the practical necessity for reliable internet access—for education, for healthcare, and for work. Dummerston has recently taken a good and necessary step towards accomplishing this by joining the Deerfield Valley Communications Union District (DVCUD), also known as DVFiber, the growing communications district in southern Vermont. DVFiber’s values are equity, performance, affordability, reliability, and privacy. Since November, DVFiber has launched a new website (DVFiber.net), published its first quarterly newsletter, and set up a Facebook profile. To stay connected with developments and news, we encourage you to go to the website and sign up for the newsletter. If you use Facebook, we invite you to “Like” us and follow us there (search for DVFiber). The district is expanding: In the past three months, five towns have joined DVCUD, expanding the collaboration from fifteen to twenty towns with the addition of Weston, Dummerston, Putney, Westminster, and Newfane. This continued growth increases both the ultimate scope of the project and the number of people working to achieve its goals. In less than a year, the district has grown from its original five member towns to twenty towns in Windham, Bennington, and Windsor counties. You can see the full list of towns and their representatives and alternates on the website. continued on page 17


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