Sense of flow
Before and after
Hinesburg woodworker finds meaning in his craft
Stream work enhances quality, reduces flood risk
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September 14, 2023
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Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
thecitizenvt.com
CV School District crafts transgender policy for students
Bridging the gap
COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY LEE KROHN
Runners come through the Holmes Creek covered bridge in Charlotte during last weekend’s Charlotte Covered Bridge 5K/10K and half marathon.
The Champlain Valley School District is crafting policy to affirm the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming students, one of the first policies of its kind among Vermont’s more than 90 school districts, board members said. Since last winter, the district’s policy committee has been working on writing the policy. While much of the district-specific policy was adopted from the 2017 Vermont Agency of Education guidelines, committee members made it a point to insert affirmative language that transgender students, or gender non-conforming students, have a right under the policy to be permitted to use a locker room or restroom that aligns with the student’s gender identity. “There’s such a really danger-
ous and negative movement in the country broadly — not so much in Vermont, but we’re not immune to the pressures and even coordinated campaigns that take place in other states and other districts,” Angela Arsenault, chair of the Champlain Valley School Board, said. “We have our equity policy, but we couldn’t say that it explicitly addresses any concerns that might come up around transgender students and gender non-conforming students. We felt it was important to do that.” The policy, if adopted, would require the district use a student’s preferred name and gender on all school records, and that students participate in school activities, like sports teams, that are in line with their gender identity. “We have very intentionally put affirmative language that See POLICY on page 12
Charlotte Selectboard hires new town administrator LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Following a nearly three-month search for a new town administrator, the selectboard has hired Nathaniel Bareham. The board made an official offer Monday with a starting salary of $80,000. Selectboard chair Jim Faulkner said the offer was “enthusiastically accepted” by Bareham. “After a collaborative process, the selectboard unanimously decided on who we think is a very exciting candidate,” Faulkner said. “We look forward to Nathaniel
working with our outgoing administrator and taking over the reins and moving forward with the town.” Bareham has a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in public management from the State University of New York, Brockport, along with a master’s degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School. He spent the last two years working for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as a water safety coordinator as well as the regional health and safety intern
with a focus on conservation and open space. The selectboard, which conducted the final round of interviews, was assisted by a five-person search committee made up of both the selectboard members and residents charged in July with helping to narrow the candidate pool. “We had a great search committee who really stepped up and helped us go through resumes,” Lewis Mudge, selectboard member and the committee chair, said. “We narrowed it down to three finalists for the final round of interviews. There was unanimous consensus
among the selectboard, who did confirm that Bareham is aware of the potential for his position to change to a town manager title after a vote by residents on Town Meeting Day in March. The conversation to switch to a town manager form of government has been a main topic of discussion in town since March when an ad-hoc resident group spearheaded a petition signed by over 200 residents in favor of the change. “He is well aware of the dynamics in the town with regard to town administrator, town manager,” Mudge said. Bareham is expected to start
work on or before Oct. 2 with the hope of maximizing training time with Dean Bloch, the outgoing administrator. “We sought out a candidate who we felt had the background energy and the work ethic to help the town continue on the trajectory it’s on but also help with some potential challenges on the horizon,” Mudge said, including ongoing budget challenges. Mudge said they wanted someone who would “handle the town manager and town administrator situation with grace,” and let the process unfold and “move forward with whatever decision is taken.”