So these institutions should just take our kids pro bono? That's just not how it works. It's ultimately a business transaction between the public and private sector that is mutually beneficial for everyone. The school gets a larger student body to work with, and therefore more opportunities for advanced learning, extracurricular activities and clubs, additional curricula that aren't feasible with smaller student bodies; the public gets access to some of the best secondary education in the country without having to deal with the hassle of running its own school district, funding its own building and grounds maintenance, hiring and oversight, etc. The money the towns are spending on their education is the same money that they'd be spending otherwise to send them to some regional high school that they'd have to continually assess repairs and improvements for, and wouldn't even be guaranteed to provide a better education or growth outcomes for its students than the current model. It's just not a risk worth taking.

Well, regardless of the busing thing (I graduated in 2015) St Johnsbury is largely funded by private benefactors. Even though the towns are paying a tuition to send their children there, it's not much more than they'd otherwise spend on a public regional high school (supposing one were to spontaneously appear at no cost) and the education received and opportunities to explore different subjects, the arts (performing and visual), career and technical training, extracurricular activities are miles ahead of what a public school can provide. The majority of tuition funding for St J comes from the Dorm students. On top of that, encouraging benefactors from all over the country to donate only adds to the institution's resource pool, which it then uses to improve the student experience.

Yelling absolutes like "public dollars belong in public schools" means nothing if you can't back it up with a good reason to change the current status quo. Yes on principle it's an easy logical conclusion to come to, but in practice it might not be the best solution for a lot of rural areas in our state. A large part of why young families even move to the NEK is because they have access to schools like STJ and LI that they otherwise wouldn't find anywhere else in the country. It's part of what makes our state unique and, if I'm gonna be brutally honest, it's one of few things keeping our state afloat in its undying quest to attract and keep young people and families. You abolish public funding to STJ tomorrow and all of a sudden an entire county has to recreate that with a fraction of the funds? People will leave in droves. I get that a lot of people in this part of the state are willing to cut their nose off to spite their face in the name of "sticking it to the flatlanders" but not me.

Except St J provided busing for several of my friends and classmates who lived as far away as Peacham and Sheffield. As to it being private vs. public, what specifically about it being private makes it bad? If it comes down to cost and you live in a sender town, that's what your property taxes effectively go towards. If it comes down to oversight issues then what specifically are they doing in the education of our children that you think is so wrong?

Fellow SJA alumn and lifelong atheist. No one ever shoved the bible down our throats, or the Quran, or the Torah, or the Communist Manifesto for that matter. The faculty made it a point to welcome and encourage the sharing of diverse religious and nonreligious worldviews, often using the daily morning gathering (AKA "Chapel") as the forum for it. We had a kid lead us all in a Buddhist meditation for 15 minutes one morning, a good friend of mine gave a talk on Paganism and Wicca at another. Other times, it was literally just going over sports results, the schedule for the day, advertising for upcoming club, educational, or extracurricular events.

I agree, and I went to one of these institutions by virtue of living in a town that had school choice. They never (and I say this as a lifelong devoted atheist) EVER shoved "religious indoctrination" down our throats in any way. In fact, at graduation they had a baccalaureate ceremony where students representing all faiths were welcome to speak. My year we had a Buddhist, a Jew, a Christian, a Wiccan, and an Atheist speak, among one or two others who I can't remember. The quality of education was far above and beyond what I could have received at any other fully public or union high school.

r/rimjobsteve

Otter Valley St. Catchpole

Ah yes, a post relevant to Vermont. Tell me again what universe you live in and why I should care?

Fascinating. I always knew the story of Bob White, but had never heard this one.

Because Bob White was the name of a long time coach/AD there. They renamed their boys teams in honor of him.

Correct. I don't miss that from my running days. Hell, I got chased by dogs multiple times just running on the dirt roads near my house.

Bingo. We've been using that to de-ice our driveway for decades