I've seen a couple of things on Front Porch Forum recently to indicate the vote on school choice in Cabot will take place at the meeting held the evening before the regular town meeting.  Someone wrote today that it should be voted upon by Australian ballot at regular town meeting.  I don't know the logistics, reasoning, or even if this is what is going to happen, but I think voters in town should ask the right questions and get answers before it's too late and lots of people are surprised at the outcome.  Best to ask our town clerk just how this vote will be handled.  The office will be open at 9 a.m. on Monday.  Phone there is 563-2279.

If you haven't been following the school issue on Front Porch Forum, you should begin taking note and perhaps go to the library to read back issues copied there.  This is a complicated issue, and we need to think seriously about what's best for the children, weighing commuting to other schools, the type of education they'll get at other schools vs. Cabot, community financial gain or loss, less oversight regarding school policies - all kinds of things.  Once the high school students have left,  we will still have the elementary school on the same campus needing the same repairs, plus there will be the added expense paying tuition.  One estimate I heard was that tuition costs could add  an extra  $400,000 a year to the school budget, and that might be a conservative guess. 

The State of Vermont is apparently struggling with education questions.  It makes me wonder if we should hold off making a decision like this until things at the state level settle.  You never know - the trend towards unionizing schools could turn around and local schools could become the wave of the future and Cabot would then be ahead of the trend.