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Students lead peer outreach ahead of town meeting; board members say student voices underscore budget stakes
Summary
Student leaders presented a districtwide outreach campaign explaining the budget, showed a video of student voices and asked peers and community members to vote in favor of a proposed budget. Board members and staff said the presentations showed high student engagement and urged the public to consider the impacts of cuts.
Student leaders presented the board with a student‑designed outreach campaign explaining the upcoming district budget and urging community members to vote at town meeting. The student group said they had run information sessions for freshmen and seniors, produced a video of student remarks and were sharing materials ahead of town meeting day.
Zoe Epstein, the student representative who led the effort, told the board the group had two goals: to help under‑18 students recognize how they can influence conversations through family and community conversations, and to give students 18 and older the information they need to vote. The students described carrying the message to multiple classes and reported strong engagement and questions when they showed specific slides about staffing and program reductions.
Why it matters
Students told the board the budget choices under consideration would reshape elective offerings, arts and extracurricular programs, and staffing levels — and that many peers expressed concern they might lose classes or supports they value. Board members said hearing students directly was the most powerful way to explain the real‑world impact of budget choices.
What students did and what they said
- Student outreach: The student group said it held sessions for freshmen and seniors and several other grades. They presented simplified slides on Vermont school finance (Act 60, Act 127, common level of appraisal) and on district budget tradeoffs. They also played a video in which many students described classes and programs they value and said they wanted the budget to pass so future students would have the same opportunities.
- Student voice in the meeting: In the meeting’s presentation, Zoe Epstein framed the project: “Your vote and your voice matter,” she said in materials shared with the board. Students who appear in the video described worries about fewer elective classes, larger class sizes, and the potential loss of arts, band and hands‑on technical classes.
Board reaction and next steps
Board members and the superintendent praised the students for the depth of their work and for bringing peer perspectives to the discussion. Several board members said the student presentations gave them stronger material to share with community members and legislators about the human impacts of budget decisions. Board members encouraged the students to share their video with town officials and legislators and accepted an offer from the group to distribute the longer version of the presentation to board members ahead of town meeting day.
Provenance
Student presentations and the video are recorded in the meeting transcript beginning when the chair introduced Zoe Epstein and the students and continuing through Q&A after the video.
Ending
Board members asked staff to make the longer student video available to board members and to circulate it to community stakeholders in the coming weeks ahead of town meeting day.
