(Host) For the second time, the five towns of the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union have voted to form one unified school district.
The legislature passed a bill last year that requires all towns to consider consolidation school districts and offered incentives to do so. But Addison Northwest is the only supervisory union to vote on the measure.
The vote passed along a similar margin last year, but opponents in the town of Addison were able to overturn the results in a re-vote.
The measure passed 764 to 464. School superintendent Tom O’Brien says he expects a petition for a revote will be filed:
(O’Brien) "I would hope that people would consider the fact that five towns voted once again in favor of forming the unified union, I think that’s the mandate but that’s not to say that a petition won’t be forthcoming."
(Host) Opponents have 30 days to petition the vote.
O’Brien says the current structure of governance is unsustainable:
(O’Brien) "With all of the hurdles that we face as individual school districts, declining enrollments, the cost of education, the economy, and now the incentives put forth, this is the right way to go to provide quality education for all of our kids."
(Host) Voters also elected the members of a new 12-person school board yesterday. If the vote is not petitioned, that board will become active in 2012, when the current boards dissolve.