Superintendent's Message
Violet Nichols
March 14, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians and Staff,
As we prepare for the rare total solar eclipse on April 8, Vermont is expecting an anticipated influx of 250,000 visitors. Recognizing the potential challenges and traffic issues associated with the sudden surge in travelers, school districts in the Champlain Valley have collectively decided to close schools for the full day, rather than the previously planned early dismissal. There will be no afterschool activities that day, including School's Out. This closure will not impact the remainder of the school year calendar.
For more information on Vermont’s planning for the total solar eclipse, please visit
vermont.gov/eclipse. The week before the eclipse, all our schools will be distributing solar eclipse glasses to students and staff to use on April 8th courtesy of the U.S. National Science Foundation. The glasses arrived this week!
The 2023-2024 calendar has been updated and is available here. It is also noted in Notable Dates below.
This week, students from SOAR (Students Organizing Against Racism) at the middle school attended the Vermont Association for Middle Level Education (VAMLE) Conference where they attended enriching workshops on a variety of topics and also facilitated their own workshop entitled “Disrupting for Justice.” Students and educators from across Vermont were in attendance and they wowed them! Thank you to Gary Russell, Alison O’Brien Zenie and the entire SOAR co-advising team, and congratulations to students Will Chaulk, Ria Fitzgerald, Gio Gedney, Jahnaiyah Holness, Sidali Noor, Abby Lynch, Cris De Jesus, JoJo Meyer, Morgan Muir, Molly Pels, Bari Tornwini, Teagan Scavone, Clara Calcagni, Mibo Behairy, Skye Morris, Arman Burazerovic, Anna Gonzales, Kade Hill, Noah Sanders and Om Shukla for their hard work and commitment to SOAR.
Congratulations to the SBHS Varsity Dance Team and coach Ali Gingras on their 8th Straight Pom Championship!
FY25 Budget
In revising the budget, there were two distinct items under consideration in order to see a reduction in the tax rate increase:
$2.27 million surplus from 2022, which were the funds included in the additional ballot question
$1.9 million which was added to the original budget at a time when increasing the budget did not impact the tax rate increase
Of the $1.9 million, $1,085,295 is being placed into the Capital Reserve Fund and the remaining $814,705 is being reduced from the budget as an expenditure save. I felt it was important to continue to invest in facilities. Incremental efforts are necessary to add to those savings for improving our facilities as well as having funds in the case of emergencies, like a broken boiler, which happened at Orchard earlier this year. Looking ahead to future budgets and the impact the new legislation will have, it is fiscally responsible to build those reserves now.
The $2.27 million surplus from FY22 was entirely reallocated as revenue, helping to reduce the homestead tax rate increase from 23.25% in the rejected March 5th vote to 14.5% fin the upcoming April 4th vote.
At last night’s board meeting, I provided the board with details of where reductions would be coming from and you can review that presentation here.
The re-vote will take place on Thursday, April 4th. If you requested an early ballot for March 5th, you do not need to request a new one; one will be sent to you. You can do that here if you have not yet registered to vote.
We will be holding a pre-vote hearing at the April 3rd board meeting (similar to the Pre Town Meeting Day meeting at City Hall). I will share more details on that soon.
School Board Update
I want to congratulate Chelsea Tillinghast for being elected Chair and Tim Warren for being elected Clerk at the School Board meeting last week. Chelsea and Tim are wonderful assets to our board and community and I look forward to continuing to have their leadership on the Board.
With the resignation of school board member, Alex McHenry, the board will be selecting a new member. I want to thank Alex for his leadership, dedication, and expertise. I am grateful for the six years that he served on our Board in support of the District. Candidates can apply now (see below) and will be interviewed by the board during an open board meeting on April 3rd. Board members will then discuss the candidates in an executive session immediately following, then return to an open session to announce their decision.
Applications are available at www.sbschools.net/schoolboard. They will be due no later than 4 pm on March 27th. Please send to Delina Gilroy at dgilroy@sbschools.net. Applications received after that time will not be accepted.
FHTMS Principal Search
Principal Scott Sivo will be moving on at the end of this school year and we thank him for service and dedication to the school community.
We will be looking for a new principal for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The full job description can be found here. Administrator contracts are typically signed in early May, so we’d like to act quickly in order to capitalize on the best candidate pool. I have heard feedback from parents and guardians asking for a shorter timeline for job searches. The committee will aim to bring a recommendation to the school board by April 17th. I invite everyone to apply to join the search committee; please do so here by March 22nd at 4 pm.
All relevant dates are included in that form. I know this is a big time commitment, so we wanted folks who are considering applying to have the dates in advance.
Every component of the standard search process for principals will be included in this search. There will be interviews with the committee, interviews with administrators, meetings with staff, site visits to meet with students and staff as well as a community forum.
Human Resources will be advertising on national job boards as well as School Spring and local media outlets. This timeline allows us to reach the best candidates so we can support students, staff, and families. I am confident that we will find an exceptional candidate to be our next middle school principal with this search process.
Orchard Principal Search
The first committee meeting for the principal search got off to a great start this past Monday! We’ll meet again next Monday to finalize the list of candidates we’d like to interview and will hold interviews on Monday, March 25, 2024, and Monday, March 26th from 9:00 - 3:30 pm. The second round of interviews will occur on April 1st and will include site visits.
A community forum will take place on April 2nd. Candidate 1 will be interviewed at 5 pm, Candidate 2 will be interviewed at 6 pm and Candidate 3 will be interviewed at 7 pm. These will be held via Zoom and Zoom links will follow when we closer to the date.
In advance of the forums, we are looking for feedback from the community. Please fill out this survey by March 25th at 5 pm.
OR Community Forum Questions Form
Final interviews will then be held on April 5th.
Transportation Update
As I mentioned last week, there are no planned cuts to the transportation department. In fact, in the new budget proposal, there is an additional bus driver, a transportation dispatcher, and GMT bus fare funding included. We are continuing our recruiting efforts to find new drivers. Our transportation team is working hard to fill those gaps, but with staff shortages and absences, there are still shortcomings. While we do offer competitive pay and flexible hours, with recent retirements, there have not been enough new recruits to replace them. We have two employees who are still in the process of obtaining their CDL certification, but the process is quite time-consuming given the rigorous testing protocols demanded to demonstrate proficiency in such a critical responsibility. While we anxiously await their successful passing, it unfortunately does keep our bus driver numbers below optimal levels and as a result, routes are disrupted.
I know there are frustrations surrounding communication about bus routes and cancellations. That is why in addition to keeping the bus driver positions open, we are also planning on hiring a Transportation Dispatcher who can aid with optimizing scheduling and route planning. While finding staff with CDLs is difficult, improving communication is something we hope to improve with this additional staff member. Please bear with us as we work to fill this vital role.
Another option that has recently been reopened is that Green Mountain Transit will resume charging bus fares on April 1st. Student/Youth fares are $1/trip or a daily cap of $2 (including transfers) or a $25 monthly cap. The district will sponsor those fares and students would just need to show their school ID to qualify for their free ride but it would be helpful for us to know how many students would take advantage of this.
If you haven’t already, please fill out this brief survey by March 20th about Green Mountain Transit student ridership. If you live close to a bus line, this could be an option that eases the burden in the face of cancellations.
New and Returning Student Registration
Both the New and Returning Student Registration is now open.
Families can access the Returning Student Registration form via the Parent Portal. Any new students who have enrolled since January of 2023 must be linked to parent portal accounts for parents/guardians to access the Returning Student Registration form. Pre K students must be 3 years old on or prior to March 5th and Kindergarten students must be 5 years old on or prior to March 5th.
On March 1st, enrollment will automatically notify families of currently enrolled students that the Returning Student Registration is open with a link to the Returning Student Registration webpage that contains translatable instructions and information.
Once registered, orientation sessions for kindergarten will be held at the elementary schools:
Orchard: April 16 and 17
RMCS: April 17 and 18
Chamberlin: April 17
Contact the schools directly for more information about the orientation.
School's Out Summer Camp
Registration for School’s Out Summer Camp is currently open to all SB families. Find more information here.
PowerSchool and Staying Up to Date
The district uses PowerSchool and School Messenger to send out all updates and notifications. regarding school closures and other important information.
Please note that transportation updates are only sent to families who have subscribed to transportation services on PowerSchool.
Please make sure all your information is up to date in PowerSchool so you can receive all notifications as quickly as possible.
Notable Items
SBHS Talent Night is this weekend with shows on Friday at 7 pm and on Saturday at 2 pm!
For the 4th year in a row, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark wants to hear young Vermonters’ thoughts on the future of environmental advocacy and is holding an Earth Day Essay Challenge for fifth and sixth graders. The Challenge is currently open through April 5th. For more information and how to submit an essay, visit the Earth Day Essay Challenge website.
A special message from Common Roots - who brings our children Farm to School lessons (preschool through grade 5) at no cost to our district, and 4 other South Burlington community programs (16 years):
You have probably heard that Burlington VT will be a focal point of much activity during the Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8th. Children in the South Burlington Schools will be released by noon on that day and there will be no School's Out program.
Common Roots has designed a special Eclipse Party with families and children in mind! They have NASA-approved glasses for each ticket holder.
The Common Roots' Eclipse Party is designed to engage all ages with healthy food, live music by Chad Hollister (including the song he wrote for Common Roots Nourish to Flourish that some children know well and will be invited to sing with him), movement, exploration in Wheeler Nature Park, and lots of games from Big Blue Trunk! A memorable day of fun ~no one should miss~ during this once-in-a-lifetime astrological occurrence!
Dress for the weather, rain, snow or sunshine! Common Roots will have an Event Tent on site.
For more details, go to the Ticket link through Seven Days COMMON ROOTS ECLIPSE PARTY TICKETS
Common Roots will give limited free family passes to each principal.
Should you have any questions--please contact Liz@commonroots.org
Our Common Roots Team looks forward to seeing the Solar Eclipse with you!
Here are some family friendly events the South Burlington Recreation Department is hosting:
FREE Spring Arts/Crafts & Gardening:
Enjoy an afternoon with the family for a spring arts & crafts and gardening event sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental on March 16th from 1:00-3:00pm at the UMall (storefront next to Target). Design and decorate your own planting pot and receive seeds and soil before you leave! Will also have DIY wooden birdhouse kits, paper pinwheel decoration and more!
FREE Egg Hunt:
Who is ready for an egg hunt? Join us at City Hall and Rick Marcotte Central School on March 30th from 1:00-3:00pm. Bring the family and enjoy an egg hunt for all ages, arts and crafts, complimentary face painting, music, food and refreshments courtesy of Sommers Chiropractic. First 250 kids in attendance will receive a reusable bag to color and decorate! (RMCS is not affiliated with this event, only allowing the city to use the space.)
No advance registration is necessary for any of these events.
And some great events happening at the South Burlington Public Library!
Employment Opportunities
The district is hiring! Please follow the links to read the full descriptions for these roles.
Bus Drivers (and Bus Aides)
Training available obtain Commercial Driver's Licenses to eligible candidates, full and part time positions available as well as van drivers and bus monitors
Special Ed teachers:
Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School
Lunchroom:
Full job descriptions are available on School Spring. If you have questions on hiring processes or on employment, please contact Elissa Galvez, Employment Specialist, egalvez@sbschools.net (802) 652-7247.
Notable Dates
March 15: MS/HS Late Start at 10:35 am
Elementary Early Release at 12:30 pm
April 4-5: Family Teacher Conferences, Half Day
April 8: No School (for Solar Eclipse)
April 9: No evening activities
April 12: MS/HS Late Start at 10:35 am
Elementary Early Release at 12:30 pm
April 22-26: Spring Break, no school
Thank you for reading!
Violet
SBSD App
Along with the website, the dedicated app will be your best resource for updated menus, schedules and other important information in the event of school closures and delays.
Download the dedicated SBSD app (or scan the QR code )!Stay in the loop with our Live Feed
- Access breakfast and lunch menus
- Get your daily dose of news
- Stay updated with the events calendar
- Connect with our staff directory
- Receive important notifications, like school closures
We’d love to hear your thoughts on both the app and the website so please email any feedback to website@sbschools.net.
The South Burlington School District is on Social Media! Please follow us for updates and District happenings:
