WVTK Local & State News September 25, 2014

The Vermont Agency of Education released the Spring 2014 science assessment results for students in grades four, eight, and 11. The agency says 44 percent of Vermont fourth graders scored as proficient or higher in science, down three percentage points from last year. In grade eight, 25 percent were proficient or higher, seven points lower than 2013. Eleventh graders 30 percent were proficient or higher, one percentage point lower than 2013.

On election day, voters in the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union will decide on a bond to pay for renovations at Mount Abraham Union High School. The $33-million bond, the largest in Addison County History, will pay for work including: moving the library to the front of the school, adding a middle school gymnasium, upgrading the locker rooms, and renovating the lobby area. Based on figures provided by the school board, the first year of a 20-year bond would increase education taxes between $137 and $199, based on the town, per $100,000 of assessed property value.

A man was arrested after police say he robbed a Circle K on Woodstock Avenue in Rutland yesterday. Tyler Edwards is charged with assault and robbery. Police say Edwards fled the scene before they arrived with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was lodged at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility. Bail was set at $50,000. Edwards is in court this afternoon answering to the charges.

A special legislative panel is expected to hear more about the rules governing Vermont's child welfare agency as it investigates child protection issues following the deaths this year of two toddlers who had been in the state's care. Members of the Legislative Council are testifying today. Among the topics to be discussed are the variations between department districts, confidentiality rules in child welfare cases, and the standards for custody of children and reunification with their parents.

The Middlebury Development Review Board voted unanimously to pass the plans for the new Town Offices and Recreation Center. Bread Loaf Corporation, the company that will be doing the construction, filed applications for both projects with the Middlebury Planning Office on August 29. The Development Review Board now has 45 days in which to issue final, written decisions on the new town office building at 77 Main Street and the new recreation facility off Creek Road.