MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A Vermont Judge has denied an emergency injunction sought by the Town of Roxbury to prevent a revote of the Montpelier Roxbury School District budget next week.
Lawyers for the town argued in Washington County Court Tuesday that the Montpelier Roxbury Public School District held a budget informational meeting for voters last month after Town Meeting Day voting had already begun, preventing voters from having access to all the information, including the possibility that a “no” vote would result in the bussing of 40 or so Roxbury students to Montpelier and closure of the Roxbury Village School. In response to the failed vote, the school district crafted a new budget to be voted on April 30 that does just that.
The town wanted the court to cancel the upcoming budget revote, thereby preventing the new budget that includes the decision to close the school. But Superior Court Judge Timothy Tomasi late Tuesday denied that injunction, saying that despite the irregularities with the informational meeting, the town’s “attempt to undo that election and block the upcoming vote is moot, untimely, and fails to meet the exceedingly exacting standards required to obtain such relief.”
Meanwhile, in a resolution approved Monday night, the district admitted it made a mistake in not holding the informational meeting earlier. Vermont election law says that’s all they need to do in a dispute like this.