Welcome
We are Vermont townspeople, educators, parents, grandparents, select board and school board members, school staff, and community members who support the power of public schools to enrich the lives of Vermonters.
We are Vermonters who take collective responsibility for our schools. If our schools are successful, we celebrate them. If issues arise, we problem solve. When there are struggles, we stand with them. Our schools reflect our hopes and dreams for the next generation of Vermonters.
We have come together to form the Vermont Rural School Community Alliance (RSCA) because we are committed to advocating for the value and importance of public schools for our children and communities and for a democratic voice in decision-making about their future. We currently have over 100 towns and villages who have had a municipal body vote to join our membership.
RSCA’s goal is to encourage legislators to pursue meaningful property tax reform that strengthens Vermont’s future while maintaining support for supervisory unions as an effective governance structure for high-quality, equitable, cost-effective rural schools. Our analysis and recommendations are grounded in direct experience with Vermont schools and research provided by leading rural education researchers.
Who we are – RSCA Steering Committee
Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., is an organizational executive, author and educator. She served as Founding National Director of the K-12 interdisciplinary environment education programs, Project Learning Tree and Project WILD. She is Co-Founder and CEO Emerita of the Children & Nature Network and Executive Director of the Nature-based Leadership Institute at Antioch University New England. She is in her tenth year as a Vermont school board member, currently serving as Chair of the Westminster Town School District board and Chair of the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Board.
Dan MacArthur is a long-time school board chair in Marlboro, where he grew up and where his kids and grandkids have gone to school. He and wife Gail run a small vegetable, berry and maple syrup farm and are active in many community affairs.
Jeanne Albert, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Lincoln School District Board, and is a retired mathematics professor with more than 35 years’ experience, at Dartmouth, Castleton, and most recently, Middlebury College. Along with teaching mathematics, during her career professor Albert has designed and implemented multidisciplinary curricula for future elementary school teachers and developed professional development workshops and programs for college faculty. Jeanne is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Lincoln School District Board as well as work with others across Vermont to ensure a vibrant, equitable, and financially sustainable educational future for all students and families.
Margaret MacLean has been an educator for 45 plus years. She has taught at all grade levels Pre-K to 6 and acted as a school administrator. Margaret was principal of the Peacham Elementary School from 1989 -2002 and in 1996 was named Vermont Principal of the Year. In 2012 She was appointed to the Vermont State Board of Education. From 2002 – 2014 Margaret was employed by the Rural School and Community Trust to work with rural schools nationally as the Assessment and Professional Development coordinator. In this capacity Margaret worked with teachers in numerous states to promote place-based learning, to develop and sustain professional learning communities and to act as a school coach working closely with the school administrator to implement school improvement strategies. Additionally, Margaret was instrumental in developing the Vermont Rural Partnership, a coalition of 18 of Vermont’s most rural schools established in 1996. In 2022 the partnership transformed into the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative serving 44 schools in the Northeast Kingdom. Over the course of her career Margaret has worked in 7 countries including Great Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Holland and the USSR where she met her husband Bruce in 1976.Between 2002 and 2020 Margaret was a successful international consultant presenting workshops and seminars at conferences and international schools. In this capacity Margaret worked directly at international schools in the following countries Japan, China, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Philippines, India, Kuwait, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Croatia, Poland, Spain, Tanzania, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.
David Schoales is a retired shipbuilder, woodworker, history teacher, and department chair. Following 12 years as a member of the Brattleboro Town School Board, he chaired the merged Windham Southeast School District Board. David also served on the Board of VT-NEA and several Vermont Education Department commissions during the tenure of Mark Hull. He worked diligently to moderate the effects of Act 46, and served on the Board of the Coalition for Vermont Student Equity in the successful campaign to implement fair student weighting practices.
VREC Executive Director
John Castle has worked as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and school administrator at the college, high school, elementary and supervisory union level in Vermont for almost 30 years. He most recently served as Superintendent of Schools for North Country Supervisory Union. John lives on the family homestead in Holland with his wife Jill not far from his 94-year-old mother Nancy, sister Jane and brother Paul. Their two children, Emma and Parker live nearby. John became Executive Director of VREC in July 2022. “I am inspired by the strong sense of community in our schools in the NEK. It is my hope that VREC assists in fostering a sense of place, purpose and belonging for students and staff.”