By:
RIPTON’S CHOICE: A LESSON IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
The decision by Addison Central Supervisory Union district voters to allow Ripton to withdraw from the district is a lesson in civic engagement, studious work and diligence on the part of proponents, and trusting the process — even if that process presented high hurdles to surmount.
In the end, after a two-year effort by Ripton residents to “save their school,” district voters decided they had the right to determine their own school’s future; that it was not the district’s role to take that decision from them. Seen in another light district voters, by overwhelming numbers in the other six district town, believed Ripton voters recognized the tough road that lay ahead and were fully up to the challenge to do right by their students.