Save Our School Comm.

Organizes at Meeting

By Martha Slater

Enough signatures from registered voters have been collected on petitions circulated in the towns of Hancock and Granville to call for a special town meeting in each town to reconsider the vote taken on the school budgets on Town Meeting Day. The date for these meetings has not been set, although they must take place within a set time limit prescribed by state law of no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days.

The petitions began circulating after a number of voters were dismayed to discover that the outcome of the vote could force the schools to close.

A group of about 20 valley residents met Sunday, March 25 at the Hancock campus of the Village School to organize as the Save Our Schools Committee. Also in attendance were State Representatives Patsy French, Jim Hutchinson and Sandy Haas.

During the Hancock and Granville Town Meetings held March 6, the school budgets approved by voters were not enough to keep either of the towns’ schools open in the way they are currently operated. The focus of this meeting was on working to find ways to keep those two schools open.

The possible closing of the 206-year-old Hancock School and the 150-year-old Granville School has attracted a lot of attention from media around the state. In addition to The Herald, the Addison Independent, the Burlington Free Press, and WCAX-TV have covered the story, and last week, a reporter from the Boston Globe spent a day at the schools.  

Architect Dick Robson, who lives in Hancock, is looking into what’s involved in getting the buildings put on the National Register of Historic Places.

"I’m convinced that the education you can get in this type of school is the best you can get," Hutchinson said at Sunday’s meeting. "Also, the school is the center of the community."

Those present Sunday agreed that the committee should look into both options: keeping the Village School arrangement, or returning to running separate schools. They broke into smaller groups to brainstorm areas to work on. These smaller committees will meet individually, before re-convening as a team Wednesday, April 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the Granville Town Hall. Some committee members plan to then attend the Village School Board meeting at the same building at 6 p.m. to discuss their work so far.

With the ultimate goal of keeping the schools open indefinitely, the committee’s short-term goal is to convince Hancock and Granville voters to give them what lead teacher Mary Sue Crowley calls "the gift of time. Two months is not long enough to look at all the possibilities. We’re looking out of the box trying to find long-term solutions. We need another year to explore all the options."

____________