Manchester Youth on Boards

in a unique partnership with the local high school, Burr and Burton Academy (BBA), and the Orton Family Foundation, the Town of Manchester has appointed high school students to serve on municipal boards and commissions.

In the summer of 2006, the Orton Family Foundation convened a group to consider youth involvement in Manchester’s government. The group consisted of the Town Planner and Town Manager, a Select Board member, Manchester citizens, staff from BBA and five high school students. The group researched and considered models for youth engagement used across the country, as well as laws and policies in Manchester and Vermont that would impact youth involvement.

With the support of the Foundation and BBA, three students presented the concept to the Select Board in November of 2006 and formally requested that students be appointed to the Town boards and commissions. The Select Board agreed to consider the proposal and, after receiving unanimous consent from all municipal boards, authorized the appointments in April of 2007.

To help give youth a voice in town decision-making and to teach high school students about the structure and operation of town government, two high school students serve as full voting members on all but two of Manchester’s boards: the Planning Commission, Design Review Board, Development Review Board, Parks & Recreation Committee, Conservation Commission, Energy Committee and the Mark Skinner Library Board. They serve as full voting members and attend meetings, read up on the issues, comment on proposals and make their voices heard.

Students serve on each board for two-year terms and are selected through the same rigorous application and interview process that the Select Board uses to appoint adult board members. The group of student reps also meets regularly together and with a faculty advisor to get support and discuss the experience.

To provide an opportunity for all local youth to participate in discussions about civic life, the exploratory committee also envisioned a separate and open Youth Commission, which would give students a vehicle for participating and making their opinions known, even if they did not serve on a town board or commission.

Feedback to date from the students, the Town’s adult board members and from the community has been uniformly positive. The program will develop to include better training, opportunities for students to speak at conferences and network with other youth leaders, and a broader youth engagement initiative.