This commentary is by Steven Berbeco of Winooski. He is editor of the 802 Ed, a biweekly newsletter about education policy and practice in Vermont.

A Latin teacher from junior high school once told me that the word trivia comes from roots meaning “three roads.” The idea was that people would come together where roads meet to  exchange small pieces of information — trivia. 

Here in Vermont we certainly swap news on street corners, and I’ve had my share of half-shouted updates between open car windows. The flow of information also happens in grocery stores, coffee shops and waiting for pickup at the end of the school day. 

Recently I found another spot for “hot tea,” as the kids like to call gossip these days. I was sitting  in my gym’s sauna and struck up a conversation with someone who is a school leader. 

I learned that the post-election anxiety many Vermonters are feeling is also showing up in  schools among students, many of whom are worried about being deported as part of what’s  been promised to be the “largest deportation program in American history.” 

And to clarify, these aren’t kids worrying about whether they will be able to go to Ikea in Montreal.  The federal government claims that it can stop and question people within 100 miles of a border.  For anyone doing the math, the distance from Highgate Springs to Middlebury clocks in at less  than 75 miles, for example. 

School leaders have so many responsibilities: to their students, the staff, the community. Now,  add to the list that schools have historically been swept up in immigration enforcement efforts. Despite this, Education Week recently pointed out that there hasn’t been much in the way of  public statements from school leaders. Or, ahem, state government.

There are levers that can be pulled within the state to help protect our vulnerable students. As the Legislature gets ready for session in January, elected representatives can prioritize this issue so schools can focus on teaching and learning. 

My gym’s motto is, “you belong here.” It’s time for Vermont’s education system to adopt a similar  mission statement.

David Ismail fired in a brilliant goal from distance in the 18th minute. Yaniv Banzini led the second-half offensive outburst with a pair of how-did-he-do-that finishes. And Sydney Wathuta played the setup man once again.

The result was clear: Vermont men’s soccer knows how to win NCAA Tournament games. And the Catamounts claimed another one on Thursday night.

Behind Ismail’s opening strike, Banzini’s brace and Wathuta’s two assists, Vermont cruised past Iona 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of 2,035 at Virtue Field.

The America East champion Catamounts (12-2-5) will play Hofstra in a second-round matchup at 5 p.m. Sunday on ESPN+. The Catamounts will seek their third straight trip to the Round of 16; two years ago, they reached the quarterfinals, one win shy of the College Cup semifinals; last year, they were ousted after advancing through the first two rounds.

The Catamounts now have six NCAA tourney wins since 2022. They had four in their program history prior to that.

More: Cardiac Catamounts: Vermont soccer strikes late to capture America East championship

In Thursday’s match, defender Zach Barrett dribbled down the right sideline and found Ismail on the edge of the box. The junior forward turned and, given too much space by Iona defenders, uncorked a lefty blast from 20 yards out that a leaping Iona goalie Loukas Georgiou could not reach.

Ahead 1-0 at the break, Bazini doubled the advantage 19 seconds into the second half. Bazini received a short pass following an Iona turnover 40 yards away from goal, and the dynamic senior forward weaved through multiple defenders before unleashing a blast from the top of the 18 that skipped in front of Georgiou and inside the right post.

In the 55th minute, Barrett heaved a long throw-in into the box for Max Murray, who nodded toward Bazini. With a crowd around him, Bazini beat the Iona defense with a crafty backheel for a 3-0 margin. It was Bazini’s team-leading 10th goal this fall.

To polish off the high-scoring performance for an America East school in an NCAA Tournament game, Wathuta set up Ryan Zellefrow in the 70th minute and Maximilian Kissel in the 85th minute, the latter giving Wathuta a single-season team record of 14 assists. Kissel also has nine goals this season, all as a substitute.

Niklas Herceg made three saves in net for his fourth clean sheet of 2024.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.

Many Vermonters have insufficient or nonexistent access to dental care, and the state is losing dental providers, according to a new report released Thursday. 

The Vermont Oral Health Equity Landscape Report, published by the nonprofit Voices for Vermont’s Children, found that, over roughly the past half-decade, Vermont has lost dentists at a faster rate than almost every other state and seen a decline in its children’s dental health.

The state has also been slow to roll out new dental procedures — non-invasive methods that could easily and cheaply improve oral health for many Vermonters, according to the report. 

“It’s very clear that oral health is a key component of overall systemic well being,” Michelle Fay, the executive director of Voices for Vermont’s Children, said in an interview. “And the system that we have set up isn’t working.”

According to national data from the American Dental Association cited in the report, Vermont had nearly 60 dentists per 100,000 residents in 2019, roughly the national rate.

The state reached that figure “after many years of robust recruitment and policy incentives meant to bolster the dental workforce,” the report reads. But the Covid-19 pandemic erased those gains: As of 2023, Vermont had only 53 dentists per 100,000 residents, the second-steepest decline in the country, per the report. 

From 2015 to 2021, the number of dental hygienists practicing in the state also declined by about 4%, according to data cited by the report. The number of public health dental hygienists — hygienists employed by the Vermont Department of Health — dropped from five prior to Covid-19 to one currently, the report reads. 

The state has also struggled to add dental therapists, professionals who perform routine dental care, to the ranks of practitioners. Last year, the Vermont state auditor found that Vermont State University had failed to stand up a dental therapy program, even after seven years and a $2.6 million investment of public funds. 

One bright spot noted in the report is Vermont Medicaid’s coverage of dental care. As a whole, Vermont dentists see more Medicaid patients than any other state, although its Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental care were mixed: adult reimbursement rates were relatively high, while rates for children’s dental care were in the middle of the pack nationally. 

Still, Fay said, accessing dental care as a Medicaid patient is not easy. Some dentists may think, “in theory, I’ll take a Medicaid patient,” Fay said, “but only if I haven’t filled all my slots with either private pay or insurance with a higher reimbursement.”

The report also notes that Vermont providers have been slow to adopt new, inexpensive and minimally invasive dental procedures. The report names two specifically: silver diamine fluoride and silver modified atraumatic restorative technique, methods in which protective materials are applied to the outside of teeth. 

Those procedures could have a significant impact on Vermonters’ dental health at low cost, the report says. 

Voices for Vermont’s Children recommends that the state invest in low-cost dental facilities and procedures across the state, including the integration of dental facilities with primary care facilities. The state’s health department should also consider a public education campaign focused on oral health, the report says. 

“The top line is really just the need to think differently about integrating oral health into overall health,” Fay said, “and using all available treatment models to meet the needs of these communities.”