Town Meeting representatives, WSESU officials, and Town officials have collaborated to offer free childcare services at this year’s Representative Town Meeting on March 24. This is intended to remove a barrier for parents of children between the ages of 4 and 13 who had previously declined to participate in Representative Town Meeting due to childcare concerns. Plans are still being finalized and this year’s service is considered a “trial run” for potentially providing this service for future meetings. Here are the details:
Location: A room at BAMS near the Multi-Purpose Room where Representative Town Meeting is held
Hours: 8am until the end of the meeting (except during the lunch break)
Ages: 4 – 13 (no diapers)
Eligibility: Any child or ward of Town Meeting representatives, as well as Town or school administrators, board members, or staff members who are required to be at Representative Town Meeting.
Parents will be asked to sign a registration/waiver form and will be expected to pick their children up promptly at the beginning of the lunch break and at the end of the meeting.
Staffing will be provided by WSESU certified teachers, paraprofessionals, and substitute teachers, assisted by teenager volunteers earning community service hours.
There is still time to “caucus in” as a Town Meeting Representative. Here is the text of a separate news release issued by the Town Clerk’s Office regarding how to do that:
The Brattleboro Town Selectboard will hold a pre-town meeting information forum on Wednesday, March 14 at Academy School beginning at 7:00 PM. Representative Town Meeting articles will be discussed, including the budget, and the bond issue. At 6:30 p.m., town meeting members of each district will be available to meet with constituents to offer residents an opportunity to share their views and discuss articles to be voted on at the annual meeting. Also, at that time, all three districts will be accepting nominations to fill town meeting member vacancies for 1 year.
District 1 has thirteen seats to appoint, District 2 has four seats to appoint, and District 3 has eight seats to appoint.
Any residents from any of these districts interested in being considered for this position should be present at Wednesday’s 6:30PM caucus. Classroom locations at Academy School for each caucus will be posted in the school lobby that evening. The public is invited to attend their district’s caucus and stay for the information meeting.
In the event that, following the district caucus on March 14th, there are still vacancies remaining, members will caucus again on Wednesday, March 21 at the Oak Grove School at 6:30PM. If there are still vacancies, districts will caucus once again on Saturday, March 24 at 8:00am, prior to the start of Representative Town Meeting.
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO
Town Manager’s Office
230 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802) 251-8151 FAX (802) 257-2322
Every bit helps...
Good step!
Wondering why non-reps attending the meeting aren’t eligible, though….
My understanding...
is that this is a pilot program to see how it goes. Limited number of certified teachers, etc. My take is that they are hoping to expand on it if it goes well.