by Guy Page
Can the Vermont House and Senate agree this week on tuition for independent schools?
That was the main issue separating the Vermont Senate House Conference Committee talks on H.454, the education finance and governance bill, when it met this morning for the second time this week.
Independent schools currently provide a tuition option for school districts without schools – mostly high schools. St. Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon Institute in Caledonia County are among the long-standing independent schools fulfilling the role of the local high school.
The House version of H.454 is seen as more restrictive of the role of independent schools in any new governance/funding plan.
The Senate conferees today put this proposal to their House counterparts: an approved independent receiving school that educates students in grades nine through 12 and also functions as an area career and technical center may charge the base tuition amount plus 10% for each student attending the receiving school.
The added 10% would help pay for technical education at the private schools.
Apart from the lack of agreement on independent school roles and tuition, the conferees are still far apart on per-student ‘foundation’ payments and the sizes of both classes and school districts. When asked for a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate versions, House conferee Chris Taylor (R-Milton) said there’s not enough detail to publish such a document yet.
This morning’s session adjourned after a half hour until 1 PM today, giving the House time to ponder Senate insistence on a firm plan for independent school tuition. The House would defer that decision to a multi-year study committee.
“We are not surprisingly at a challenging point here,” Rep. Pete Conlon (D-Addison) said shortly before the morning adjournment.
Can conference committee find enough agreement today and tomorrow to present a satisfactory bill to the full House and Senate as currently scheduled on Monday, June 16?
That depends on progress being made on independent schools – and class sizes – and supervisory union governance – and, perhaps above all, per-student spending benchmarks.
Stay tuned.