We need a time out here. Our school district is moving, by necessity, ahead with plans to assess each school to determine costs, needs, etc. if/should we end up consolidating our schools.
Last week, the Vermont passed H.454 which puts the entire state on a path to much more extreme consolidation (five statewide school districts), with new district boundaries identified during the 2026 legislative session, new voting wards for those districts created in the 2027 legislative session, new reps elected to those districts in November 2028, and new districts operational for the 2029-2030 school year.
That same year, the 2029-2030 school year, is when the state will have transitioned from the current failed education funding system of Act 60/68 with all its subsequent legislative attempts to fix, to a Foundation Formula.
Many will recall that before the 1997 Brigham Supreme Court decision that gave us Act 60/68, Vermont had a Foundation Formula but the Legislature never – not once – funded it at 100%. That earlier Foundation Formula did not envision socializing all the property wealth in the state for redistribution, which Act 60/68 did (and did poorly).
The House version of H.454 is facing a lot of push back from state education advocates and is likely to face legal challenges during the five-year process it lays out. Furthermore, there’s a Senate version of an education reform bill coming that is going to feature its own quirks and timelines.
Someplace along here we need a time-out. Our district, and others in the state voted to merge in 2016 under Act 46, and agreed on very specific processes and timelines for closing schools. How is that going to work now?
What if our district (and others in the state) go forward with the work it needs to do to keep the doors open and works to identify and pass a bond. What happens if voters approve such a bond and then despite lawsuits against state process, the state prevails?
Why can’t we immediately begin the transition to a Foundation Formula before all these other steps are taken? That may lead to some education cost relief for Vermonters while court battles play out.
Why not try a better funding formula now, provide relief sooner and let these other issues playout?
