Benson Village School

As we approach our April 12th Informational Meeting and April 13th Budget Revote, we are highlighting Frequently Asked Questions (https://5il.co/1898z) related to the FY23 Budget. Question: How does Slate Valley’s FY23 Education Spending per Equalized Pupil compare to surrounding districts? Answer: Rutland City: $18,624 Mill River: $18, 376 Estimated State Average: $18,023 Otter Valley: $17,048 Slate Valley: $16,947 Quarry Valley: $16,870 For more information, we invite you to visit our budget web page: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget.

Tonight - April 11, 2022 You’re invited to the Slate Valley Unified School District Board Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Fair Haven Union High School Library. This meeting will be in person or virtually connect by going to https://meet.google.com/pon-cdyc-ivw or dial: (US) +1 567-250-1061 PIN: 344 705 713# Tonight’s Agenda: https://5il.co/18j0p Previous Meeting Minutes: https://5il.co/185lr Special Meeting: April 12, 2022 - 6:30 p.m. at FHUHS Band Room

As a reminder, there is a special meeting on Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the Fair Haven Union High School Band Room to discuss the proposed FY23 budget (Article 2), which will be voted on by Australian ballot on Wednesday, April 13th. We invite you to visit the budget page on our website for more information: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget

There is an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Thursday, April 14th from 1:00 PM – 5:30 PM at the Benson Town Hall, 2760 Stage Road, Benson, VT 05743. This is a different location than most previous drives. We prefer that you schedule your appointment online so the number of persons waiting is held to a minimum. Yes, it is safe. You can read about the Red Cross' enhanced safety protocols at https://www.redcrossblood.org/ and schedule an appointment while you are there. You can also reduce your time at the drive by using Rapid Pass within 24 hours of the drive to complete reading the predonation materials and answering the questions online. If April 14th does not work for you or you would like to donate sooner, please find another drive close by and schedule your appointment there. If you can't find the answer to a specific blood donation question, call 1-800 RED-CROSS. We hope to see you on the 14th.

Laura MacLachlan from the Vermont Energy Education Project came in to kick off our unit on wind, solar, and hydro energy! We brainstormed ways that we use electricity, and learned about what types of energy we generate and use in Vermont. Over the next 8 weeks, students will be working to build working models of solar panels and wind turbines to learn about our renewable energy sources.

As we approach our April 12th Informational Meeting and April 13th Budget Revote, we are highlighting Frequently Asked Questions (https://5il.co/1898z) related to the FY23 Budget. Question: What changed from the March vote? Answer: Since the voters of Castleton and Hubbardton voted to close and purchase the Castleton Village School from Slate Valley UUSD, $33,500 of building operation costs were removed from the budget. For more information, we invite you to visit our budget web page: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget.

Today we celebrate National Instructional Assistant Day and National School Librarian Day! Thank you to these amazing folks who do so much for our students! Our Library is a wonderful space of imagination and creativity where students are encouraged to fill their minds and souls through books and projects. Thank you, Mrs. Witt! Our IAs support our students and teachers and care for our 🐻s at recess and lunch. Thank you, Colleen, Cris and Kathy! BVS would not be the success it is without each of you!

Congratulations to Mrs. Thurston & Mrs.Sturtevant on their presentations for their Master Degrees from the Vermont Mathematica Initiative program! It was an honor to be able to be a part of this day with them. BVS is so fortunate to have these 2 dedicated teachers!

Kinders practicing their letters the fun way!

As we approach our April 12th Informational Meeting and April 13th Budget Revote, we will be highlighting Frequently Asked Questions (https://5il.co/1898z) related to the FY23 Budget. For more information, we invite you to visit our budget web page: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget. Question: Why is there a budget decrease, but on the ballot the school budget article says there is an increase and the district is estimating a tax rate decrease? Answer: The wording on the budget article can be confusing. The information that appears on the ballot is set by Vermont statute. The language was jointly developed by the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of State and was adopted by the State Board of Education. $26,236,547 is the amount of the total expenditure budget for the entire district for the school year 2022-2023. It is the amount necessary to operate and maintain 5 buildings and to educate 1,250 students. The expenditure budget is $43,838 less than the 2021-2022 school year budget. 2.78% is the percent increase in education spending per equalized pupil compared to the prior year. Education spending per equalized pupil is the amount of the expenditure budget ($26,236,547) less the district's local revenue divided by equalized pupils. Equalized pupils is based on a formula that gives greater weight to certain students. The principle being that it costs more to educate certain students. Since the district has less local revenues and fewer equalized pupils the resulting change compared to the previous year is a slight increase. We are estimating a tax rate decrease because Vermont's system of determining education property tax rates takes into consideration the amount of money in the State's Education Fund. Since this year there is a surplus in the Education Fund it reduces the amount of Slate Valley's local tax rates.

In anticipation of the upcoming informational meeting on Tuesday, April 12th and FY23 Budget Revote on Wednesday, April 13th, we have put together a mailer with some helpful information on it: https://5il.co/17itr For more information, please visit the budget page of our website: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget

Please join us Thursday (April 7th) at 5:30 p.m. in the FHUHS Library or join virtually to discuss our Parent/Family/Community Engagement Policy E-1. This meeting will be an opportunity for parents/community members to provide feedback on the policy and discuss Slate Valley’s Continuous Improvement Planning. Policy E-1: https://5il.co/rao4 Meeting ID: https://meet.google.com/cee-mehp-crb Phone Number: (US) +1 414-909-5677 (PIN: 707156020)

Working on matching animal babies and parents by their traits!

The Benson Village School Gift Shop is open! Show a 🐻 you care with a gift! Fleece vests and beanies will be available Fall of '22. BEAR cinch sacks on order. We will have order forms available in May if we don't have the current size(s) you need.

BVS had the wonderful opportunity to see national dance/music sensation Hiplet! at Castleton University yesterday. As Mrs, Roy said, " It is so exciting to be able to have these experiences again!"

The 4th Grade winner of the State of Vermont's Arbor Day Essay Contest is BVS student Elsa Mueller ! You can find the essay at the link below, as well as the beautiful illustration to go with it. Great things are coming from BVS students at the state level! https://vtcommunityforestry.org/celebrate/arbor-day/poster/elsa-mueller

Kickball in boots- it's mud season!

PreK oobleck makers!

Students are classifying quadrilateral based on their properties and using venn diagrams to make comparisons and draw conclusions.

Kinder writing!