By Margaret MacLean
Editor’s note: Margaret MacLean, of Peacham, is a retired Vermont teacher and award-winning principal. She is the founding executive director of the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative, a past employee of the Rural School and Community Trust, and served on the Vermont State Board of Education.
Roxbury parents can meet most of the challenges of school mornings, from organizing breakfast to helping their children remember assignments and lunches. Warming up the car for the up to 4-mile drive to the nearest bus stop is also on the to-do list. But one part is breaking their hearts: the 2 hours and 15 minutes per day their children now spend on the bus getting to and from school in Montpelier. They do not want endless hours on a school bus for their children. It’s not what a Vermont childhood should be.
When the Montpelier and Roxbury school districts merged under the school consolidation law Act 46, Roxbury residents received assurances their rural school would receive equal treatment in the new district. But since then, the Montpelier dominant board made the sudden decision to close Roxbury’s K-4 elementary school last spring. Families in the small town have come face-to-face with the inequities caused by rural school closures. Even the smallest children have to endure punishingly long bus rides, made worse by the fact that in this 42-square mile town filled with dirt roads, Montpelier’s buses only drive on pavement. That’s right, Montpelier’s buses do not go on dirt roads. But beyond busing issues, many parents feel dismissed by a now-distant Montpelier’s dominant school system. And the town is still searching for a sustainable use for the school building that was once the heart of their community.
Roxbury greenhouse owner Tom Frazier put it bluntly. “We merged with Montpelier in good faith. The situation we are in now, they have closed our school—is a nightmare.”
Roxbury is not alone. Similar patterns have emerged across the U.S. when rural schools have been targeted for closure. Including in Vermont.
Research shows that closing schools is damaging to children. Studies across the U.S. show that students:
Loose sense of connectedness with peers/community
Face increased mental health challenges
In the short term, have lower test scores, worse attendance, and behavioral issues
In the long term, are less likely than their peers to complete college and secure a job
Face negative impacts from less family engagement.
Closing schools doesn’t save money
Children from closed schools still need an education. National research shows that per-pupil spending tends to increase when schools close, while anticipated cost efficiencies from “economies of scale” rarely materialize. Transportation costs increase, the promised wider opportunities cost money, and empty public buildings need to be maintained. School closures most often result in the redistribution of where money is spent rather than financial savings.
Closing schools increases inequity
Research finds that the students most negatively impacted by school closures are those experiencing poverty, students of color, and those with special needs.
Closing schools destroys communities
In communities where schools are closed, research points to depopulation, declining home values, eroding social capital, and problems with attracting and retaining families with children. Closing schools without due process results in unintended consequences.
An inclusive, open-minded analysis of the pros, cons, and alternatives to school closure is crucial to avoiding unintended consequences. Examination of winter transportation (likely to make long bus rides even longer), creative options, such as retaining rural schools to house licensed childcare, preschool, and K-2 students, additional community-oriented alternatives for school buildings, and other research should be documented and presented as part of a choice for voters. A town vote on closing a town’s school is essential to ensure buy-in to a balanced, sustainable, and fair solution.
Vermont’s children deserve better
Research shows that multiage classrooms are developmentally appropriate settings for young children, and many small schools are cost-effective and among the best-performing schools in Vermont. Small schools for elementary students can be exemplary schools. Scapegoating small rural communities for Vermont’s fiscal crisis flies in the face of equity and is not based on a factual problem analysis. Enrollment decline exists in schools of all sizes all over Vermont. We should expect schools of all sizes to step up to address enrollment decline—not just look to closing their neighbors’ smaller schools as an easy fix. Vermont must provide an excellent public education system that prepares children for success, supports families and thriving communities, and is delivered at a cost hardworking Vermonters can afford. Leaders’ sense of urgency in finding new models is merited and laudable. However, the burden of change must be equitable and addressed by communities, large and small.
Closing Vermont’s rural schools is an “answer” that does not fix the problem. It simply creates different ones.
If you want to receive a copy of the research supporting these points, please email vtschoolsrock@gmail.com.
