Orange East Supervisory Union

Updates from the Central Office

Planning for Our Future: OESU Launches Comprehensive Sustainability Study

The Orange East Supervisory Union (OESU) Board is pleased to announce a proactive partnership with DY Consulting LLC to conduct a comprehensive system-wide study. This initiative is designed to ensure our schools remain vibrant, financially viable, and high-performing for the next 10 to 20 years.

Proactive Leadership in a Changing Landscape

Vermont’s educational landscape is currently facing significant shifts. Between evolving demographic trends and legislative action including the massive Act 73 amendment called H.955, supervisory unions across the state are under increasing pressure to consider consolidation or regional alignment.

The OESU Board has chosen to meet these challenges head-on. By selecting an expanded study proposal, the Board is prioritizing local agency over reactive adjustment. Rather than waiting for external mandates to dictate our future, this study allows us to explore all possible pathways and collaborations on our own timeline.

A Vermont-Informed Approach

The study will be led by Dave Younce, a former Vermont Superintendent and past president of the Vermont Superintendents Association. His deep expertise in Vermont specific governance ensures that the analysis will be grounded in the unique realities of our local communities.

What the Study Will Accomplish

The project will move through five distinct phases, concluding in September 2026. Key focus areas include:

System Discovery: Establishing a shared factual foundation of our enrollment and financial trends.
Comparative Analysis: Understanding how OESU functions within the broader Vermont context.
Future Pathways: Developing various "scenarios" that illuminate the trade-offs of different organizational designs.
Decision-Ready Frameworks: Equipping the Board with the data needed to make informed, long-term choices.

Commitment to Transparency

It is important to note that this study is exploratory in nature. It does not presume any specific outcome or structural change. Instead, it is a tool for transparency. By examining a full range of possibilities now, the Board ensures that future decisions are grounded in a shared understanding of what is best for our students and taxpayers.

We look forward to sharing regular updates as we navigate this important process together.

Message from the Superintendent

Dear Orange East Supervisory Union Community,

What a spectacular weekend! With the sun out and temperatures climbing into the 70s, it finally feels like summer is coming. Around the supervisory union, flowers are blooming, and our classrooms are buzzing with energy. In this newsletter I am sharing some budget news, a hiring update, important planning work from DY Consulting, and legislative updates with new redistricting maps.

School Budget Results

Thank you to everyone who turned out to vote on our school budgets.

Waits River Valley: The budget was approved by voters. Thank you for your continued investment in our students and staff, and congratulations to the WRVSD community!
Oxbow Unified Union: The budget was not approved. Hearing the fiscal concerns, and the board and administration developed a revised budget that further reduces spending to meet taxpayer realities. The next OUUSD budget information session will be on June 15 and the budget vote will be on June 16. Here is a link to the OUUSD Budget Website.

Please join me in congratulating the Blue Mountain Union community. The interview committee has recommended Mr. Leigh Guenther as the next BMU Middle & High School Principal. Mr. Guenther brings over 20 years of educational experience from Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania. He and his wife are relocating to Vermont to be close to their newborn granddaughter.

The OESU Board is taking proactive steps to protect our local interests. We have retained DY Consulting LLC, led by former Vermont Superintendent Dave Younce, to conduct a comprehensive sustainability and structural study of our supervisory union. Our goal is to gather information and establish future pathways on our own terms, rather than reactively adjusting to state mandates.

Thank you to all those who wrote to their Representatives and Senators to keep OESU together as the Legislature designed Study Groups within the active bill, H.955. Several earlier versions of the proposal had Thetford removed from OESU entirely. Fortunately, our advocacy has made an impact. The most recent legislative maps keep our supervisory union intact.

Here are the newest maps. The first is the map of the Study Groups as defined in the current version of H.955 and the second is the map of the larger Cooperative Education Service Agencies (CESA).

H.955 Study Group Guidance Map

CESA Map

This bill is still in deliberations. Here is a helpful Side-by-Side Document with the version as passed by the House and amended by the Senate.

As we face these changes, our core mission remains unchanged. We remain committed to providing safe, high-quality schools that meet the needs of every learner in our communities. I look forward to celebrating graduations and step-ups with you as we wrap up the year. See the upcoming dates section below, we have a lot to celebrate!

Thank you for your partnership,

Heather Lawler

Superintendent of Schools

Orange East Supervisory Union

Blue Mountain Union Principal Search Update

The Blue Mountain Union interview committee is pleased to announce the recommendation of Mr. Leigh Guenther as our next Middle & High School Principal. Here is a brief bio:

Mr. Leigh Guenther was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. Leigh has a wife, Pamela, and two adult sons; one lives in Vermont and the other one in Texas. Mr. Guenther is finishing his 28th year in public education and has benefited during this time from working in some of the smallest as well as largest School Districts in the country. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree from the University of Scranton. Leigh has taught K thru 12th grade and been an Administrator for grades 6th through 12th. He transitioned into administration after spending over ten years in the classroom as well as coaching both soccer and wrestling. Family is extremely important to Mr. Guenther as well as a sense of community. He firmly believes that every child has a right to a quality education and an opportunity to be successful in the school environment. Leigh looks forward to getting to know all the stakeholders of Blue Mountain Union and working to make it the premier school in Vermont.

We look forward to Mr. Guenther joining the Bucks community as BMU Middle and High School Principal.

OESU Senators & Representatives

If you would like to speak out about anything going on in the legislature right now, here is a list of your Senators and Representatives:

Monique Priestley, House, Bradford - mpriestley@leg.state.vt.us
John Benson, Senate, Bradford, Corinth, Topsham - jbenson@leg.state.vt.us
Mike Tagliavia, House, Corinth - mtagliavia@leg.state.vt.us
Scott Beck, Senate, Groton, Newbury, Ryegate - sbeck@leg.state.vt.us
Joseph Parsons, House, Groton, Newbury, Topsham - jparsons@leg.state.vt.us
Debra Powers, House, Ryegate - dpowers@leg.state.vt.us
Alison Clarkson, Senate, Thetford - AClarkson@leg.state.vt.us
Rebecca Holcombe, House, Thetford - rholcombe@leg.state.vt.us
Joe Major, Senate, Thetford - jmajor@leg.state.vt.us
James Masland, House, Thetford - jmasland@leg.state.vt.us
Becca White, Senate, Thetford - rwhite@leg.state.vt.us

Find a Legislator Search

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, May 19, Orange East Supervisory Union Meeting 6:00 PM Oxbow HS
Wednesday, May 20 Oxbow National Honor Society Induction
Monday, May 25 Memorial Day No School
Wednesday, June 3 Blue Mountain Union Board Meeting 6:00 PM
Wednesday, June 3rd: River Bend Senior Awards Night 6:00 PM
Friday, June 5 Oxbow 8th Grade Ceremony
Monday, June 8 BES PreK Celebration 8:30 AM
Monday, June 8 BMU Senior Walk with Kindergarten 2:00 PM
Wednesday, June 10th BES 6th Grade Ceremony 1:00 PM
Wednesday, June 10th BMU 8th Grade Promotion 6:00 PM
Thursday, June 11 BMU Senior Dinner and Awards 5:00 PM
Thursday, June 11 12:45 TES 6th grade graduation 12:45 PM
Thursday, June 11 WRVS 8th Grade Celebration 6:00 PM
Friday, June 12, Last Day for Students
Friday, June 12 NES 6th Grade Ceremony 10:00AM
Friday, June 12 Oxbow High School Graduation
Saturday, June 13th BMU High School Graduation 10:00 AM
Monday, June 15, OUUSD Budget Information Meeting Oxbow Gym 5:30 PM
Tuesday, June 16, OUUSD Budget Meeting and Vote from the floor Oxbow Gym 6:30 PM

Full Calendars are available on the OESU website at https://www.oesu.org/calendars.

Orange East Supervisory Union