Board of Education Votes not to Pursue Reconfiguration

The Board of Education on Monday voted unanimously not to pursue elementary school reconfiguration for the 2012-13 academic year.

The vote came after an intense public comment session in which 13 residents spoke out against the plan and implored the school board to maintain the current neighborhood school concept. 

The comments on Monday reiterated what hundreds of parents said in petitions, and at focus groups at each of the five elementary schools.

The vote was met with thunderous applause from the 100 or so in attendance at Vernon Center Middle School.

The school board not only put off any potential action regarding reconfiguration for a year but outlined an aggressive plan for academic reform that starts with a new language arts curriculum that Superintendent of schools Mary Conway badly wants implemented. 

Reconfiguration - and more importantly reform - is in response to the state placing Vernon on a mysterious "bottom 30" list that local officials say has never been clearly outlined.