Rutland Town passes school budget, Slate Valley fails again

Barstow, Otter Valley prepare for third budget votes June 11 and 12

Staff report

On Thursday, May 30, two Rutland County school budgets were up for revotes. Only one passed.

On its third attempt, Rutland Town School District’s $10.57 million budget passed 477-288. On its fourth attempt, Slate Valley Unified Union’s $30.8 million budget failed 962-994.

Since its original budget vote on Town Meeting Day, the Rutland Town board has cut $124,600 from its FY25 budget.

While Slate Valley will have to go back to voters for a fifth vote, Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell said the margin this last time around was less than it had been, giving her hope.

The next revote is likely going to be June 18, pending board approval. Further cuts will be considered. The board’s finance committee held a special meeting Tuesday, June 4. 

If a school district does not have an approved budget by July 1, it is authorized to borrow up to 87% of its FY 2024 budget from the state to cover operations. Meanwhile, revotes will continue until a budget is passed.

Barstow, Otter Valley

The Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union (RNESU) district school boards of Otter Valley Unified Union and Barstow Unified Union once again have retooled their budgets for a third revote June 11 and 12, respectively.

The Barstow School Board voted to reduce its fiscal year 2025 budget by an additional $187,000.

The original $6.27 million budget (a 12.1% increase over FY2024) was defeated by only four votes on Town Meeting Day in March (375-379). A subsequent recount confirmed the outcome.

Barstow’s first revote for a reduced budget of $6.25 million budget on April 30, however, failed by a wider margin of 60 votes (274-214).

The new budget present for the third revote is $6.06 million.

An informational meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 6, and voting will be the following Wednesday, June 12.

The Otter Valley School Board approved additional cuts totaling $170,250 for its third revote. 

Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) School District’s roughly $27 million budget failed 638-1,019 on Tuesday — a margin of 381. The original budget failed 891-1,325 — a margin of 434. The board had trimmed about $269,000 from its original budget

The board has made roughly $438,000 in cuts since the budget first appeared to voters on Town Meeting Day.

The board will host an in-person and virtual informational meeting about the budget at 6 p.m. June 6. The revote will take place June 11.

For more information visit:
rnesu.org.