By Curt Peterson
The Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) board gathered for an “emergency meeting” on Sunday evening, June 15, for a public discussion about controversial H.454, the education transformation bill. After input from teachers, board members and members of the public, the board voted unanimously to send requests to their state legislators asking them to vote against H.454.
In spite of these sincere objections from MVSU and several other districts, on Monday, June 16, the Legislature in both chambers passed a compromised version of the bill. Most educators didn’t like either version, but felt the House bill was the slightly better of the two.
In the run-up to the official vote Sherry Sousa, MVSU superintendent and Keri Bristow, MVSU board chair, sent out several written explanations of ways in which H.454 would result in higher costs, higher taxes and steep cuts to educational programing resulting in lowering the quality education provided for local students.
Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union’s superintendent Christine Bourne, Ascutney School Board member Bill Yates, and Nicki Buck, Hartland School Board chair, distributed a May 19 email condemnation of the Senate’s bill.
Points in their presentation echoed those sent out by Sousa and Bristow:
Administration would be centralized in Montpelier — local control would be non-existent, including district residents’ ability to vote on their own budgets.
Funding would be significantly reduced, forcing “deep staffing cuts” and fewer educational programs.
The bill ignores the major causes of budget increases — soaring healthcare costs, increased need for attention to student mental health, and perpetuates unfunded mandates that contributed to last year’s devastating education property tax increases.
Education spending is pegged at 2025 levels, with a fixed inflation index that doesn’t reflect annual double-digit healthcare premium increases [negotiated by the state].
The bill ignores Vermont’s dire housing shortage that negatively affects likelihood that student numbers will rise sufficiently to reduce per-student spending.
The Senate’s “foundation formula,” which educators find “fragmented and incoherent,” is predicted to reduce many districts’ share in the state’s distribution of funds — Hartland, for example, may lose over $2 million; MVSU may lose more than $6 million.
If a district uses a bond to finance school construction, the bill will include bond payments in the district’s per-student spending limit.Many see the transformation as a death knell for small schools.
Legislators and some educators feel education reform is being “rushed under pressure” from the governor, who is adamant that education reform is passed this session.
“I’ll call [the legislators] back — and we’ll keep calling them back — until we get something accomplished. We can’t go home without this transformation,” Gov. Scott said.
The campaign against H.454 initiated by educators and parents has also put a powerful squeeze on legislators.
Bryce Sammel, formerly on the MVSU board from Barnard, has submitted ideas for education reform to multiple listservs within the district. He opined that school closings would inspire residents to leave a small town for a better education opportunity elsewhere, resulting in part-time residents’ purchasing local homes (often for inflated prices) which makes neighboring homes’ market value rise along with their tax bills.
