Commissioner Armando Vilaseca today announced his appointment of Education Finance Manager, Vaughn Altemus, Ph. D., as the department’s new Act 153 Advisor. Dr. Altemus will be a resource to school boards and administrators in implementing the voluntary education governance consolidation components of Act 153 of 2010.
To accommodate this new position the department will be reorganizing its school finance staff under Education Finance Manager, Brad James, according to Chief Financial Officer Bill Talbott.
“Our education community is fortunate to have someone of Vaughn’s caliber available to us to focus on this important task,” said Commissioner Vilaseca. “Act 153 has generated significant interest and action across the state, and it is imperative that we are able to provide advice, technical assistance and facilitation to Vermont’s supervisory unions and districts.
“I want to reiterate that we cannot expect significant changes in the educational opportunities for our students, nor the cost of education, without making some significant changes to our governance system,” said Commissioner Vilaseca. “Act 153 facilitates this change through virtual merging of supervisory union duties, and incentives for districts to form Regional Education Districts (REDs). However, it is clear from what we hear from our school leaders that they need further guidance, assistance, and information in order to bring about these changes, which is why we created this position.”
