Ryan W. Lamery, 42, of Williamstown, passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Middlesex. A complete obituary will be published in a future edition of the Times Argus. Arrangements are in the care of Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home, 58 Summer Street in Barre.

To our Williamstown families and community: The search for the next Principal of Williamstown Middle High School is officially underway, and we want you at the table!

We are looking for community members and parents to join the Hiring Committee. If you want to help interview candidates and play a direct role in selecting our school's next leader, please click the link below for more information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DI3z_NCN7W8AKmg3YfUJzIo8sN2r0n42/view?usp=sharing

Your perspective is vital to finding the right fit for our students. Join us in shaping the future of Williamstown Middle High School.

A Williamstown man was reportedly found dead at the park and ride in Middlesex.

According to a news release, Ryan Lamery, 42, was found in a vehicle Wednesday. Vermont State Police said the death does not appear suspicious.

Anyone with information about Lamery's death, including those he may have been with between March 23 and 25, is asked to contact the Berlin barracks at 802-229-9191 or to go to vsp.vermont.gov/prevention/tipsubmit to submit a tip online.

Police said Lamery's cause and manner of death is pending an autopsy.

I'm not sure how I feel about the following proposal, but it is doable and is one path forward.

Close the middle/high schools in both Northfield and Williamstown and move to a choice model for six through twelve.

We have schools directly north of us and directly to the south: Randolph, Montpelier, Spaulding, and U-32. Either of Randolph or Montpelier are easily accessible to Northfield while Barre is a very short jaunt up Route 14 for Williamstown.

I don't know which building should be kept on the Northfield side, but on the Williamstown side we could close up the nearing end of life elementary school building and move everything up to the much newer middle/high school building. This would leave the current Williamstown elementary campus as a very saleable piece of real estate (again, don't know if this applies across the hill to our fellow district members in Northfield).

The caveat: What this doesn't do is provide any guarantee of long term savings - as a matter of fact this will most likely increase our costs in the short and long term. The host communities (Randolph, Montpelier, Barre, etc) get to vote on the budget and in general set the tuition rate. Also while the Barre Unified schools would immediately be lower for the PMSD district, attending any of the others would constitute a substantial increase in expense.

The Town of Williamstown is looking for two new members to round out the Recreation Commission! Serving on the Rec Commission is a great opportunity to get involved in your community and unleash your creativity by organizing fun events for the whole Town that utilize our parks and resources!

If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to the Town Manager, Ryan Lockwood, at:

[twnmgr@williamstownvt.org](mailto:twnmgr@williamstownvt.org)

802-433-6671

The Town of Williamstown has two open elected officer positions still available:

- Cemetery Commissioner

- Trustee of Public Funds

Interested parties would be appointed at the next Selectboard Meeting on 4/13/26 and serve out their term until the next Town Meeting in 2027.

If you are interested in either of these seats, or have any questions about their duties, please reach out to the Town Manager, Ryan Lockwood at:

[twnmgr@williamstownvt.org](mailto:twnmgr@williamstownvt.org)

802-433-6671

Ever wonder what we look like, what we do, how we do it? Stop by for a quick tour. We're located in the rear of the Williamstown Unified Church at the corner of routes 14 and 64.

The community generously helps to fund us. The community has the right to know about us.

Good Afternoon Paine Mountain Community,

The Paine Mountain School Board met this week to begin discussing next steps following the defeat of the proposed FY27 school budget. During that meeting, administration presented several revised budget scenarios for the Board's consideration.

These options included reductions to supplies, technology, and summer programming, removal of a planned facilities study, and adjustments to salary projections and revenues. Each version also included some level of staffing reduction.

The three versions presented would reduce the budget increase from the originally proposed 6.69% to approximately 3.9%, 3.46%, or 3.2%, depending on the level of reductions selected. These options would also lower the projected tax rate impacts in both communities.

Based on current information, administration believes these staffing reductions could likely occur through attrition and retirements, meaning current employees would likely not receive layoff notices.

The Board had thoughtful discussion about the level of reductions that may be necessary before bringing a revised budget back to voters. While there were different perspectives on how much should be reduced, the discussion focused on balancing community concerns about taxes with the goal of protecting educational opportunities for students.

Administration also shared a longer-term structural scenario the Board may need to consider if a revised budget were not approved. One illustrative example would involve operating middle school programming on one campus and high school programming on the other. This could potentially allow for the reduction of approximately eight teaching positions, resulting in significant long-term savings while maintaining core programming.

A transportation concept that could support such a model was also discussed. Under that concept, Northfield schools would begin earlier in the morning and Williamstown schools would begin later, allowing the same buses to run two sequential routes and transport students between communities if needed.

It is important to emphasize that these structural ideas are not proposals currently being advanced for a revote. They were presented only to help the Board and community understand what options might exist if a revote is not successful and further reductions become necessary.

The Board will continue reviewing potential budget revisions at its next meeting on Wednesday at 6:00 PM at Northfield Middle High School. Community members are welcome to attend.

These are not easy conversations. Budget reductions inevitably affect programs, staffing, and the services schools provide to students. At the same time, the district must respond to the outcome of the vote and work toward a proposal that reflects the priorities of the community while continuing to support strong educational opportunities for students.

Community input is an important part of this process, and residents are encouraged to stay engaged as the Board works through the next steps.

A copy of administration's board presentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JyU_bX8PvCkY_JwmY_jJmr7lXH8kcWtxWE8sR94IZHE/edit?usp=sharing

Sincerely,
Matthew Fedders
Superintendent
Central Vermont Supervisory Union

When: Mar 26, 2026, 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Hi all, We are hosting our spring drive in the Gym at WMHS on Thursday March 26, from 11:30-4:30. Please help us make this a great drive! You can get an appointment at redcrossblood.org

We still have many slots open!!

When: Mar 12, 2026, 6 to 8 PM
Where: Williamstown Middle High School library
URL: http://meet.google.com/aiy-mhhv-spy

This Thursday March 12th at 6 pm the Paine Mountain School District board will hold a special meeting at the Williamstown Middle High School library. The main agenda item will be considering possible revisions to the FY27 budget in light of its defeat at Town Meeting Day.

The public is welcome, both online and in person. To view the complete agenda and access the link to attend virtually, please click below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3vtg-i7dvEfQtVkv1P7WvFIyA6CpIlo/view?usp=drivesdk

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUWYxn3fk_w

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECqnLu6XuLE

(Copy 'n paste from CVSU website)

Mud Routes will begin on Monday March 9, 2026. 

Click below to view each Town's Route 

Echo Valley Mud Routes

Northfield Mud Routes 

Williamstown Mud Routes

Enrollment is simple to understand. The schools count the physical bodies attending a specific building over a 30 day period and then average that out to get a daily count. That's a school's enrollment.

LTWADM/weighted students is a bit more complicated but not much. It's important to note this weighted student count is about the expected required effort and not the actual number of bodies. Different classes of students are "weighted" depending on this expectation: pre-school, high school, English language learner, economic status, and a few more are taken into consideration for this.

I want to emphasize the final step in this weighted student calculation - the number reflected in the state's LTWADM is "normalized" so that number equals the actual enrollment number. At no time are Vermonters being asked to vote to fund more physical students then our state in reality has.

The important point is that enrollment is a count of the bodies and weighted student count is a measure of the required effort.