Williston Observer

By Michelle Edelbaum
Observer staff

Williston School District enrollment has fallen by more than three-dozen students this year, continuing a trend that could prompt the district to permanently shelve expansion plans.

District Principal Walter Nardelli said that enrollment totaled 1,165 students on the first day of school, down 39 students from 1,204 students on the last day of school in June.

September is a time of flux, as new students move into the district and administrators determine the status of students they thought would show up but didn’t, Nardelli said. The district may have gotten eight new students since the first day, he said.

The district will report final enrollment numbers to the state on Oct. 1. The figures will be used as part of a calculation for state aid.

This is the third year enrollment did not grow as expected. In 2004-05 enrollment dropped by six students over the course of the year. The previous year, enrollment fell by two students. For many years before that, the district grew at a brisk pace, adding an average of 37 students each year.

Williston’s declining enrollment mirrors a statewide trend, said School Board Chairwoman Marty Sundby. Sundby said she is reserving judgment on whether Williston’s situation is a long-term trend or just a brief reprieve, and wants to study it further.

“I think it supposes the possibility that we might not have to expand down the road if the numbers hold,” said board member Jeanette DiScala.

The uncertain enrollment picture has led the School Board to delay a proposed expansion of Allen Brook School and instead develop a plan for capital improvements, including a potential renovation of the aging Williston Central School.

“There are ongoing needs at both schools, more at Williston Central School, because it was built several decades ago and is old,” said Sundby. She said Williston Central School needs general repairs and energy efficiency improvements.

The School Board is also trying to renew the permit for temporary classrooms at Allen Brook School, which expires Sept. 27. Nardelli said that structures — trailers converted for classroom use, are helping the district get though a period of uncertainty.

“We have growth pressures, obviously, because we have trailers, but we need more time to see whether it’s an aberration or a trend. There is still a lot of housing to be developed in the next five years,” said DiScala. “We need a few more years of data before we can see whether or not we have to bond.”

DiScala and Sundby said the board is holding off on a final decision on expansion plans. The board was scheduled at its meeting Wednesday to discuss options. The results of that session were not available by press time.

When the board formed a Facilities Committee some years ago, enrollment projections showed that the district’s schools would soon run out of room. But when actual enrollment began declining, it gave people pause, Nardelli said.

“This may mean that Williston may not have to build another school,” he said. “If they just modify the current structures … rather than adding a whole other building or big addition, the difference to taxpayers will be tremendous.” A previous estimate pegged the proposed Allen Brook School expansion at $6 million.

The district wants to obtain new projections that account for the recent decline in enrollment and new development in town. Nardelli said the board would receive updated projections in October and hopes that the figures show a small addition to one of the schools will suffice. An addition could allow the trailers, which hold roughly 80 students, to be removed.

Nardelli said that Allen Brook School was built to accommodate an expansion, which the district has contemplated for some time. The addition would be a wing that could accommodate 12 classrooms, about 240 students, he said.

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Venue more convenient for administrators

By Michelle Edelbaum
Observer staff

The Williston School Board has moved most of its meetings out of town.

The board will now hold all but a few sessions at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, about 10 miles away. The board will meet in Williston only when it is discussing the budget or when there is a “hot” issue, said Chairwoman Marty Sundby.

School officials said the change was made to ease the burden on administrators from Chittenden South Supervisory Union, who must attend many area towns’ school board meetings. They say the venue allows all boards to meet in a central location at one time, facilitating cooperation among schools in the supervisory union, which includes Williston, St. George, Shelburne, Hinesburg and Charlotte.

“We’re still at a district school,” Sundby said. “It makes good use of time. It will make it more productive to get work done as a district.”

Some Williston residents, however, question the board’s choice of venue.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Jeffrey Smith, a Williston resident and parent. “I don’t think it is in the public’s or the teachers’ best interest.

“But I understand why they’re doing it. If I were the superintendent, I would want that, too. They have a lot of meetings. But it is not good for the public.”

Sundby said that the board decided at its July retreat — itself held outside of Williston, at the upscale Inn at Essex — to have its monthly meetings at CVU on the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m., following the Chittenden South Supervisory Union meeting at 5 p.m. The four other School Boards in the supervisory union will have meetings at the same time and location; some boards that have more than one meeting a month and may hold a second meeting in their town.

In 2003, the Williston School Board decided to alternate meeting locations between CVU and Williston Central School. The recent change means fewer meetings will occur in Williston.

Sundby said the board has 11 regular meetings per year and in the past it held six of those meetings in Williston. The board will now hold all 11 monthly meetings at CVU in Hinesburg.

The board will still hold meetings in Williston during budget season, in addition to its monthly meetings. The board would also consider holding meetings in Williston when there is widespread interest in a topic, Sundby said. The School Board last met in Williston in June.

CSSU administrators, such as Superintendent Brian O’Regan, often attend School Board meetings, which keep them out many nights per month, said Williston School District Principal Walter Nardelli. With the supervisory union school boards in one location, reports can be presented to all boards at once, he said.

School officials say that few people attend board meetings when they are held in Williston.

“If we include teacher and administrators, we’re lucky to have one or two people,” Sundby said. “We didn’t make a decision because we don’t want people to come. We would love for people to come. But we generally don’t have it.”

School Board member Jeanette DiScala said the decision to hold most meetings in Hinesburg wasn’t controversial among board members.

“If the community has concerns about that, I’d like to hear that,” DiScala said.

Meg Hart-Smith, a Williston resident, member of the CVU School Board and former Williston School Board member, said that she understands the benefit of having the meetings in one place and thinks there is value in not burning out administrators. Because of those reasons Hart-Smith voted for the change as a CVU board member. But she said that if she were a Williston School Board member, she would not have voted in favor of holding meetings in Hinesburg.

“I think it’s a loss for the Williston community,” Hart-Smith said. “Even though the turnout was not good in Williston, it will be dismal in Hinesburg.”

Smith said he doesn’t think it makes sense to have to drive to Hinesburg for a Williston School Board meeting. When asked what Sundby would tell parents who were frustrated about driving to Hinesburg, she said, “I would encourage them to drive to CVU and see the other school that their children attend.”

Hart-Smith has another suggestion for parents.

“I think they should ask the board for an auxiliary meeting in Williston once an month and ask for more advance notification on agendas for the CVU meeting and the Williston meeting so if there is something important, they can plan to attend,” she said. “Other boards meet twice an month and maybe it’s time for Williston to reconsider that.”

DiScala said she would understand parents’ frustration and would be open to having meetings in Williston if that’s what people wanted.

Smith wondered how the board plans to communicate their decision to hold fewer meeting in Williston to the public.

Sundby said that all the meetings have to be legally warned in the newspaper and other places she was unable to specify. She said she was not sure if something was in the School Bell, the Williston School District newsletter.

There was no mention of the change in the Sept. 8 School Bell. Cindy Pavlik, who prepares the newsletter, said she hadn’t received anything from the Williston School Board announcing the change.

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By Ashley Matthews
Correspondent

Community members gathered at the Dorothy Alling Library on Sunday to say goodbye to Williston's own literary legend.

Rickie Emerson officially retired as the library's director in July, but faithful patrons are not ready to forget her 30 years of service to the community.

"She's been here 30 years, and for everyone on the board, she's the only executive director we've ever known," said Stephen Mease, chair of the library's Board of Trustees. "She's taken this library from one little room and made it one of the best libraries in Chittenden County and Vermont."

When Emerson came to the library in 1976, it was a one-room facility and she was the only librarian. In her tenure, Emerson led the library through several major building additions and constant technology updates. In its 100th year, the library boasts almost 102,000 books, 22 computers, 15 full- or part-time employees, wireless Internet access and large collections of DVDs and books on tape.

"I'm proud that people think this library is user friendly," Emerson said. "The staff is helpful, people can get the resources they need and we provide what they want — technology, children's services and a constantly growing collection."

Though the library's patrons said they appreciate its many advancements and resources, they also reminded Emerson of how much they appreciate her.

Victoria Francis has been one of Emerson's faithful patrons for as long as she can remember. Now, at the age of 40, Francis said she likes to bring her own young sons to visit the librarian who has touched her life.

"The library was always a nice, welcoming place to come. It was much smaller then, but just as welcoming," Francis said. "It's not a library where you feel hushed."

Emerson said she's always worked to make the library a comfortable gathering place that counters the stereotype of a dark, quiet institution with stern staff members.

"Libraries have changed over the years, and the stereotypes are outdated," Emerson said, "We consider ourselves the community living room, and you just don't sit in your living room shooshing each other."

Dorothy Alling Library has become a harbor for all sectors of Williston's population — adults seeking quiet escape, children looking for a fun story hour or students who gather to study with friends. With cookbooks and picture books, history and science fiction volumes, magazines and newspapers, the library's resources serve a wide variety of needs.

In a memory book left at the front of the library, patrons wrote page after page of messages expressing appreciation for Emerson's contributions.

"From beginning to end, you've been a great friend to each book and individual you have met," wrote one well-wisher. Another wrote, "Dear

Rickie, I remember your warm and gracious welcome to my family on our first excursion in Williston."

The book bore messages from friends and co-workers, patrons and children — all recognizing the lasting impact of Emerson's friendship, leadership and kindness.

Though Emerson’s retirement date was officially July 1, she worked part time in July and on an occasional basis since then to help with the transition. The town continues to seek someone to fill her position.

At the end of the party, Friends of the Library and other supporters presented Emerson with a gift certificate for a European cruise as a gesture of appreciation.

Even then, she insisted she should be the one saying thanks.

As she waved at friends with a joyful smile on her face, it was clear the library touched Emerson just as much as she touched it.

"All these people came here to say thank you to me, but I should be saying thank you to them," Emerson said. "It has been a labor of love, and I'm not really leaving. I'll still be around."

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