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by Dave Soulia, for FYIVT.com
When Vermont passed Act 73 in the spring of 2025, it triggered a statewide reorganization of public school districts. Under the law, districts must be redrawn to fall within a target enrollment range of 4,000 to 8,000 students, measured using Average Daily Membership (ADM)—an average of enrolled students calculated over the school year.
The goal of the law is to improve equity and efficiency by consolidating administrative systems, ensuring access to essential programs, and stabilizing per-student spending. But while Act 73 focuses on redrawing the map at the district level, it leaves individual schools vulnerable—especially small rural ones.
Simply put, meeting the district-size requirement under Act 73 does not protect small schools within those districts from closure.
District ADM Doesn’t Shield Small Schools
A district that reaches 5,000 or 6,000 students under Act 73 may appear fully compliant. But if it includes one or more tiny K–6 schools—some with enrollments below 75 students—those schools are still likely targets for closure or consolidation, especially if they’re expensive to operate or difficult to staff.
In fact, the creation of larger districts may accelerate that trend. Larger governing boards face increased pressure to trim costs, eliminate duplication, and streamline services. That often translates into school closures in outlying or low-population areas.
There is nothing in Act 73 that prohibits this. The law governs district structure, not building-level preservation.
Act 168: A Strategic Option for Local Control
Passed one year earlier, in 2024, Act 168 provides a potential solution—but only if communities act proactively. The law allows supervisory unions and school districts to form regional partnerships known as Boards of Cooperative Education Services, or BOCES.
These BOCES units allow multiple districts to share:
- Special education staff,
- Transportation systems,
- Grant-writing and procurement teams,
- Administrative services,
- Professional development and curriculum specialists.
The idea is simple: if multiple districts are each trying to support a handful of small schools, it may be more efficient—and sustainable—for them to collaborate rather than compete.
Act 168 allows up to seven BOCES statewide, and includes a July 1, 2027 deadline for formation. Each BOCES must submit a cost-benefit plan and governance structure for state approval. A one-time $10,000 state grant is available to each approved BOCES to assist with early startup costs.
But unlike Act 73, which is mandatory, Act 168 is voluntary. No BOCES will be formed unless local districts take the initiative.
How the Laws Work Together
Think of it this way:
- Act 73 redraws the map to meet state standards on paper.
- Act 168 gives communities the tools to make those maps work in real life.
For example, imagine two newly formed districts under Act 73. Each meets the state’s ADM requirement, but both contain two or three very small elementary schools that are struggling to stay viable. By forming a BOCES together under Act 168, those districts could share special ed services, coordinate transportation, and pool administrative costs—giving those small schools a better chance of survival.
Act Now, Not Later
The key for communities is to act before decisions are made for them. Once a district begins evaluating buildings for closure or program consolidation, it may be too late to reverse the momentum. By organizing early and exploring BOCES formation now, districts can create a financial and operational argument for keeping small schools open.
This isn’t just a bureaucratic exercise—it’s a matter of community identity, student access, and rural survival.
Who to Contact About Act 168
For parents, school board members, and local leaders looking to learn more or push for BOCES participation, the following state legislators were directly involved in education policy and Act 168 discussions during the 2024 legislative session:
Legislators Involved with Act 168
- Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick (D)
- Sen. Nader Hashim (D)
- Sen. David Weeks (R)
- Sen. Terry Williams (R)
- Rep. Peter Conlon (D)
- Rep. Erin Brady (D)
- Rep. Casey Toof (R)
- Rep. Sarah “Sarita” Austin (D)
- Rep. Jana Brown (D)
- Rep. Kate McCann (D)
- Rep. Brian Minier (D)
- Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone (D)
- Rep. Chris Taylor (R)
The Bottom Line
Act 73 may have redrawn the districts. But the fate of Vermont’s small schools will be decided locally—and likely soon. Act 168 gives communities a legal path to protect what they value. But the state won’t do it for them.
The time to organize is now.
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Categories: Education, News Analysis
Act 168 is as vague and incongruous as Act 73. It’s all ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. Nothing certain. Nothing more.
Both education Acts are akin to the proverbial and idiomatic Songs of the South, Uncle Remus Tar Baby story. The more Br’er Rabbit (representing parents, for the most part) punches and kicks the tar baby (the unresponsive and nameless bureaucracy) out of rage, the worse he gets stuck. And when Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear (representing the education establishment) catch Br’er Rabbit, he must use his intelligence and wit to navigate the challenges posed by the education establishment, seeking refuge in the safety of the ‘briar patch’.
So, what is the ‘briar patch’ in this context?
Until recently, I believed the ‘briar patch’ was School Choice governance. And School Choice is the end goal still. But how we get there is, today, less obvious than it was in the past for the very reasons posed by the Act 73 and 168 ‘tar baby’.
Today, we have the benefit of knowing, in advance, not to become frustrated with the ‘tar baby’. Kicking it, litigating against it, arguing against it politically, has proven to be counterproductive. But while it may seem to be counterintuitive, I’m beginning to think the best move toward safety and sanity is to let these vague and incongruous education acts play out with the education-establishment at the wheel. Let them try to speak with the tar baby.
It’s clear that centralized state-controlled education governance is a failed proposition. And Acts 73 and 168 are just more of the same, only more chaotic than ever before – if even that could have been predicted.
Nonetheless, here we are.
So, to all the parents out there, to the taxpayers, to the sensible folk who can see this playing out, don’t try to fix anything. Just protect your kids from the chaos as best you can. Homeschool. Choose an independent school, if you can afford it.
Or use this chaotic cloud of a dystopian public school system as a teaching opportunity – as an example of everything that is wrong with a centralized, Marxist, indoctrination system. And everything that is right with liberty, freedom, and self-determination.
Use this circumstance as an opportunity to learn how to cope with the inevitable fluctuations between success and failure we find in everyday life, when those unwilling to accept responsibility hide behind the fraudulently transparent veil of ‘equity’ – when we know that what they really want is for the rest of us to save them from their lazy incompetence while they try to take the credit for our hard work.
““I’ve got you this time, Brer Rabbit,” said Brer Fox, jumping up and shaking off the dust. “You’ve sassed me for the very last time. Now I wonder what I should do with you?”
Brer Rabbit’s eyes got very large. “Oh please Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”
“Maybe I should roast you over a fire and eat you,” mused Brer Fox. “No, that’s too much trouble. Maybe I’ll hang you instead.”
“Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please,” said Brer Rabbit. “Only please, Brer Fox, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”
“If I’m going to hang you, I’ll need some string,” said Brer Fox. “And I don’t have any string handy. But the stream’s not far away, so maybe I’ll drown you instead.”
“Drown me! Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please,” said Brer Rabbit. “Only please, Brer Fox, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”
“The briar patch, eh?” said Brer Fox. “What a wonderful idea! You’ll be torn into little pieces!”
Grabbing up the tar-covered rabbit, Brer Fox swung him around and around and then flung him head over heels into the briar patch. Brer Rabbit let out such a scream as he fell that all of Brer Fox’s fur stood straight up. Brer Rabbit fell into the briar bushes with a crash and a mighty thump. Then there was silence.
Brer Fox cocked one ear toward the briar patch, listening for whimpers of pain. But he heard nothing. Brer Fox cocked the other ear toward the briar patch, listening for Brer Rabbit’s death rattle. He heard nothing.
Then Brer Fox heard someone calling his name. He turned around and looked up the hill. Brer Rabbit was sitting on a log combing the tar out of his fur with a wood chip and looking smug.
“I was bred and born in the briar patch, Brer Fox,” he called. “Born and bred in the briar patch.”
And Brer Rabbit skipped away as merry as a cricket while Brer Fox ground his teeth in rage and went home.