BRATTLEBORO—The Neighborhood Schoolhouse, which had announced its permanent closure, will continue operations under the management of a new board of trustees and school administration. Ten short days after the school abruptly closed, its board issued an announcement on Feb. 15, crediting the decision to “the outpouring of support from .
The rift has been evident for decades. Former Republican governor
Jim Douglas traces the split all the way back to the fight between the conservative Proctor wing of the party and the moderate Gibson-Aiken faction, in the days when Vermont Democrats were so scarce that GOP politics were just about the only politics around. In the 1946 primary, moderate
Ernest W. Gibson Jr. beat incumbent Republican governor
Mortimer Proctor in a hard-fought race then went on to beat the Democrat with 80 percent of the vote. Vermont Republicans have had a successful history, especially since the rise of a strong Democratic opposition in the 1960s, of papering over these divisions, which perhaps gives evidence they could do so again.