Upon the opening of the 2010-2011 Academic Year

Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union

August 17, 2010

How quickly summer begins to fade. In mid - August with less than a week until your return, the pulsing sound of crickets in the dark, early morning seems to call with urgency, “Hurry! There is important work to be done in what will be a complex and challenging year.”

August 17, 2010

How quickly summer begins to fade. In mid - August with less than a week until your return, the pulsing sound of crickets in the dark, early morning seems to call with urgency, “Hurry! There is important work to be done in what will be a complex and challenging year.”

August 17, 2010

How quickly summer begins to fade. In mid - August with less than a week until your return, the pulsing sound of crickets in the dark, early morning seems to call with urgency, “Hurry! There is important work to be done in what will be a complex and challenging year.”

The opening of the 2010-2011 academic year occurs in an economic time which prompted the Governor and Legislature to issue “Challenges for Change,” calling  for educational efficiencies while continuing extraordinary efforts to engage students, increase graduation rates and contribute to student aspirations for the future. The accompanying guideline targets 2011-2012 budget reduction percentages for each Supervisory Union and School District, accelerating our budget development for fiscal 2012.  Related to the economics driving “Challenge for Change,” Legislative Act 153 requires supervisory union discussion regarding voluntary school district and supervisory union mergers before the end of the calendar year. The complexities of such discussion in a state that values above all else, community and independence is daunting at best.

I once worked for a Superintendent of Schools who frequently remarked, “Every challenge is an opportunity in disguise.” And now I find myself, as your Superintendent saying to you, “These challenges are opportunities!” Let us seize opportunities to:

·  Be vigilant! Keep our students in the forefront of all public discussion.

·  Be contributors! Engage in collaborative problem solving to educate all students in an ever-changing, complex world.