Danville residents voted overwhelmingly on Dec. 6 against shuttering high school grades at Danville School. The paper ballot referendum drew more than 500 voters, with 480 opposing closure and 75 in favor, according to moderator Toby Balivet.
Clayton Cargill, chair of the Danville school board, said he was “ecstatic” about the turnout. “It’s pretty obvious that this town wants to be a town that operates a high school,” he said.
The petition that prompted the vote was submitted in October by Peter Mantius, a Danville resident and teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy. It was signed by more than 100 residents and called for closing high school grades by June 30 and instead paying tuition for students to attend other schools.
A complicating factor: attorneys contracted by the district said the petition could not legally compel the school board to close the high school, making Saturday’s referendum nonbinding. Board officials had said they would use the vote as guidance.
The push to close the high school also sparked an ethics complaint by Cargill against state Sen. Scott Beck, R-Caledonia, who had suggested the district consider closure to preserve school choice options. Beck is also a teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy.
NEK will be looking into the ethics complaint filed against Sen. Beck.
Originally reported by VTDigger.
Photo: Elliott Stallion via Unsplash. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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