Senate proposes deep dive study on staff-student ratio, school consolidation
By Guy Page
Five school districts approved revised school budgets Tuesday, May 7. One school district voted down a revised budget.
South Burlington, Essex-Westford, St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Cooperative (Barnet, Walden, and Waterford), and Washington Central Supervisory Union (Berlin, Middlesex, Calais, East Montpelier, and Worcester) all approved their revised budgets.
For South Burlington (2246-1706) and St. Johnsbury (673-475), it was the third vote. Essex-Westford (2404-1905), Washington Central (1222-1023), and Caledonia Cooperative (321-311) were voting for a second time.
Alburgh, the lone No (100-136), was voting a second time.
The South Burlington budget has been cut $3.2 million since Town Meeting. The likely property tax rate increase will likely be just under 10%. The Essex-Westford school district cut $4.5 million to get spending down to $76 million, with a likely 12.9% property tax increase. The St. Johnsbury school district lopped off $1 million from its Town Meeting budget of $30.3 million.
The final property tax rate will depend on the details of the final version of H.887, the Legislature’s attempt to at least temporarily fix the school funding formula that resulted in many school districts ‘loading up’ on added spending because of a built-in cap on self-imposed property tax increases. So many districts took advantage of this feature that – along with lost pandemic funding, increased health care and salary costs, and general inflation – the statewide property tax ballooned to about 20%.
H.887 would cut the property tax to about 13%, but would create new taxes on short term rentals and computer software and deposit some existing energy generation taxes into the Education Fund. Even if H.887 passes, it faces a likely veto from Gov. Phil Scott, who tweeted (X’d?) yesterday he won’t accept double digit property tax increases.
What next for funding education? House, Senate disagree
With Gov. Scott warning that without a significant shift in education funding, voters will face a similar double-digit property tax increase next year and the year after, the House included a Commission on the Future of Education to H.887.
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee introduced an amendment that scraps the House commission in favor of an Education Finance Committee to recommend class and facility size requirements, including:
- Recommendations regarding staff-to-student ratios;
- Alternative funding models, including consideration of a base amount of per pupil education spending and whether school districts should be allowed to spend above the base amount;
- Whether to encourage or mandate further school district and facility consolidation.
Of the 33 school districts that voted NO on the first try, 11 voted Yes on the second or third try.
| School District | Town Meeting/First vote | Second vote | Third vote |
| Holland | No | Yes | |
| Rutland Town | No | No | |
| Barstow UUSD (Chittenden, Mendon) | No | No | |
| Otter Valley UUSD (Brandon, others) | No | No | |
| Addison Northwest USD (Vergennes, others) | No | No | Yes |
| Harwood UUSD (Waitsfield, Duxbury others) | No | No | |
| Montpelier Roxbury School District | No | Yes | |
| Champlain Islands UUSD (Most Grand Isle towns) | No | No | |
| Enosburgh-Richford UUSD | No | No | |
| Missisquoi Valley School District (Swanton, Highgate, etc.) | No | No | |
| Northern Mountain Valley UUSD (Richford, others) | No | Yes | |
| Alburgh | No | No | |
| Washington Central USD (Berlin, Middlesex, others) | No | Yes | |
| Caledonia Cooperative School District (Barnet, Walden, Waterford | No | Yes | |
| Essex-Westford school district | No | Yes | |
| South Hero | No | May 14 | |
| Barre UUSD | No | May 14 | |
| Rivendell Interstate School District (RISD) | No | May 18 | |
| Fairfax | No | No | |
| Georgia | No | No | |
| Milton | No | No | |
| St. Johnsbury | No | no | yes |
| South Burlington | No | No | Yes |
| Springfield | No | No | |
| Lamoille North MUSD A (Cambridge, Johnson, others) | No | No | |
| Mt. Abraham USD (Bristol, others) | No | No | |
| Kingdom East USD (Lyndonville, Burke, others) | No | No | |
| Green Mountain USD (Andover, Chester, others) | No | No | |
| Ludlow – Mt. Holly UUSD | No | No | |
| Slate Valley UUSD (Castleton, Fair Haven, Poultney) | No | No | |
| Elmore-Morristown UUSD | No | No |
| Champlain Valley USD (Williston, Shelburne, others) | No | Yes | |
| Paine Mountain (Northfield/Williamstown) SD | No | Yes |
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Categories: Education
Buyers remorse? Just wait until property tax bills are mailed out later this summer.
Stop caving, voters. Women caved on the original feminist movement and continue down that same path, and now we have men on women’s sports teams, they’ve bought into murdering their own baby as being “empowering” and everything else utterly ridiculous.
If you’re going to take a stand, remain standing.
You can thank the Marxist for that, the organizers for that, the ones who follow the deceiver, divider and destroyer (usually unknowingly) for that.
The plan was for woman and men to live in harmony, lovingly supporting each other. Some don’t like that plan, because it doesn’t give them power.
Marxists ruin everything.
The Alburgh vote according the Alburgh town website was actually very different than stated in the article: results: 136 no | 100 yes. Please get your facts right.
oh, what’s one little zero?! 🙂 Just kidding. Thanks Josie. I fixed it
I voted no on our budget, but apparently it was passed by the majority that think that it is money that buys intelligence and success.
I am sick of these school boards and their “it’s for the children! It’s going to hurt our children!”. It’s really for the administrators, the staff, the teachers and the NEA. Way to cave Caledonia Coop voters. Hope you are happy with your tax bills this fall.
democracy, gives me the opportunity to vote you out of your house/// looking forward for my eight property tax bills/// i will buy nothing else until these bills are paid
Essex-Westford School District cut total spending by $3.9 million, NOT by $4.5 million. Looking the budget votes:
April 9 results: 2,353 (yes) – 3,340 (no).
May 7 results: 2,404 (yes) – 1,925 (no).
“Yes” voters turned out; 1,400 “No” voters disappeared. Why? Could it be partially explained by ballots mailed to all voters for the April 9 vote, but this was not done for the second vote?
That looks like blatant fraud.
Take back Vermont !
These towns can change the course of Vermont by Voting……
NO A THIRD TIME!!!!!!
These headlines would be nice to say there is a tax revolution going on in Vermont, we need to encourage those who vote for sanity. This is an opportunity to MAKE them accountable or at least show their true colors.
there is a reason why nobody is “talking about it” they are trying to fix it all behind the scenes.
They will run us over like all the dead racoons on I-89 near Montpelier. They could care less what you think, send us your money.
VOTE NO!!!!!!!
Notice the deafening silence from the VTGOP? Yeah, I hear it too.
Shh ! Don’t tell any of our legislators, but I still have my emergency dollar in my sock !
And the bloated, wasteful, horribly performing public school train rolls on…….”for the kids”……..