by Maria Amador
NEWPORT — School board members and administrators from the North Country, Essex North, and Orleans Central supervisory unions gathered on July 31 to discuss the Legislature’s recently passed Act 73 (H.454) — a bill meant to transform Vermont’s education system. Opinions about the bill were unanimous among in-person and virtual participants, who said they thought it not only harmful to students and schools, but also plainly “bad legislation” that requires opposition. The question of the evening, then: how exactly to push back?
Praneet Menon — chair of the North Country Supervisory Union (NCSU) and Coventry school boards — led the meeting after organizing it by email.
“We wanted to meet with our neighboring supervisory unions mainly because we do believe that, given what’s coming, we may have the chance to maybe influence where things are going,” Mr. Menon said.
The conversation quickly turned to redistricting, a core element of Act 73, which, if unchanged, could require that school districts have no fewer than 4,000 and up to 8,000 students. Bearing in mind that a redistricting task force of legislators will begin its work on August 1 — its goal being to create three new district maps for state officials to review once the Legislature returns in January — Mr. Menon suggested that the three supervisory unions come up with their own proposals to try and shift the task force’s output. Assuming the task force would be finishing its work at the start of December, he said he hopes the group of unions, or a smaller subset of it, could come up with several ideas to begin promoting as soon as October or November at the latest.
John Castle, executive director of the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative (VREC) and former NCSU superintendent, seconded the notion that rural communities might still have a say. He added that 4,000 does not yet seem like a hard number for the State House.
“That’s my understanding based on perceptions of members of the Legislature that were from the House [education committee], Peter Conlan and others,” Mr. Castle said. “Obviously, the law says 4,000 to 8,000, if practical. I think there is an understanding that in many of our rural communities that 4,000 is not practical because of the geographic size that would encompass.”
Canaan school district board member Martha Vanderwolk, who attended the meeting online, asked why Kingdom East School District hadn’t been invited to the meeting. Mr. Menon said the oversight was unintentional and entirely his own, and the group made plans to get the district involved. Mr. Menon asked how many students attend schools in Kingdom East; after a few guesses around 1,500, everyone realized that not even a fourth addition to the coalition would add up to 4,000 students.
Jessica Torrence, a Barton representative for the Lake Region Union Elementary-Middle School District, said she would be concerned if the state accepts the group’s plans for a district with fewer than the minimum number of students.
“They could utilize our being outside of that number to push us in the future, because what’s in the law is 4,000. So, if you’re saying, ‘Well, we’re going to present something that’s 3,000,’ and they say, ‘Absolutely,’ as soon as you don’t walk down the road that they want you to walk down, then they’re going to say, ‘Oh, you’re not following the rule, and this was always temporary.’ And boom, now you’re out.”
Avoiding this by trying to meet the numbers is one option, Mr. Menon said. Still, the numbers the state came up with don’t seem to make much sense according to Miles Etter, chair for both Essex North Supervisory Union (ENSU) and the Northeast Kingdom Choice boards, who argued the Legislature designed its initial district maps according to numbers that fit its desired outcome.
“They managed to contrive it to fit the number situation and maybe fit the magical expenditure formula that’s been put out, which I still can’t figure out how a base formula of $15,000 is going to cover school tuition anywhere,” Mr. Etter said.
He said it is still worth considering a larger geographical area, if for no other reason than to remind legislators that those supervisory unions have tried to expand before.
“You have to realize the ruralness of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont,” Mr. Etter said. “That’s what it is.”
To his point, NCSU staff accountant Debbie Brunelle said there is an opportunity to present the pros and cons of different structures if the goal is to meet a certain number.
“But at what cost?” she asked.
Mr. Castle said such proposals shouldn’t be the group’s focus.
“What I would say is this is bad legislation,” he said. “And I want to make sure that we recognize, and that people agree that this is not really thought through. It’s not based on research. There is no study that can demonstrate this is going to dimmish costs or improve costs. It is all based on some fallacy, this magical idea of an economy of scale that larger governance units are going to save money.”
Research proves the opposite is true, he added, that larger bureaucratic units tend to grow exponentially, and while some money might be initially saved, the trend doesn’t hold over time.
“I’m a little bit more apt to push back against the law,” Mr. Castle said. Many in the room responded with knowing laughter, and one person asked sarcastically, “Really?”
“There’s still a chance that this law does not go forward,” Mr. Castle continued. “Because the Legislature has to agree on a map, a single map eventually, and I think that’s going to be extremely problematic.”
He expects legislators will receive push back not only from rural Vermonters in the Northeast Kingdom, but from people across the state, including those in more urban areas like Chittenden County, who have their own reasons for opposing a bill that calls for consolidation.
Mr. Castle said he cannot guarantee Act 73 will disappear, but said he believes there’s a strong chance it might if one approach is set in motion.
“We should be the biggest pain we possibly can be and join others in the state to be a real pain, to see the whole thing go away.”
He said he supports having fallback plans and counter arguments in place for what is coming down the line, but neither is a replacement for significant, organized opposition from as many corners of Vermont as possible.
Mr. Castle also encouraged the group to consider the reality of consolidation in the Kingdom.
“I really dismiss the idea of the Legislature drawing arbitrary boundaries. I would ask all of us here, if we were to come together and say, ‘Would we be better off joining forces?’ I think there would be marginal utility in making that kind of arrangement,” he said.
While she agreed with most of what Mr. Castle said, Lake Region Union High School board member Barbara Postman, of Brownington, urged the group to consider what led them to this conversation.
“I think we have to push back on one hand, but I also think that whether or not this is bad legislation — and there are plenty of people in the Legislature who are very unhappy with it — everybody feels and agrees that there needs to be some change,” she said.
Ms. Postman cited the longstanding issue of school infrastructure and the many aging buildings throughout the Kingdom that have long been skipped over when discussing — and funding — reform. The fact that there’s no money for construction, she said, should be part of the conversation when the objective is to consolidate efforts.
Mr. Etter agreed with Ms. Postman’s concern, arguing that the Legislature has not yet been able to demonstrate how it is going to achieve the cost savings it promises will come of Act 73.
“If you’re going to build a structure or propose a structure, to me, it enhances it if you can actually say where you’re going to save costs, what you’re going to do to save costs, how it’s going to be impactful. I haven’t seen that anywhere,” he said.”
This has been the most frustrating part of the process Mr. Etter said.
“How do you manage to do it, get to the point you’re at, when you don’t have the finances laid out?” he asked.
To Mr. Menon, the best way to address these compounding concerns is to implement a Goldilocks method in which each proposal presented to legislators — each conveying ideas that fall both within and without the bill’s margins — highlights what the state’s bill is missing and proving that rural communities speak best for themselves.
Halfway through the meeting, the conversation shifted to educational value and how it will be affected by Act 73.
Ms. Brunelle said one benefit which might come of consolidation is greater student access to centrally located career centers, allowing more young people to leave high school with a vocational certification. She mentioned Lake Region students in particular, who struggle to fit a bus ride to and from the nearest center into their school day schedules.
For several participants, transportation outside school hours posed a significant issue. At present, many students face more than an hour of daily travel time to attend school. This combined with the shortage of bus drivers throughout the state — and the learning impacts of students getting less sleep — creates concerns about children attending schools far outside the towns they reside in.
NCSU Superintendent Elaine Collins said the thought of larger districts seems not only impractical, but impossible given the small number of administrators presiding over each entity. In Ms. Collins case, she oversees 11 schools and a total of around 2,700 students .
“There would be no way that one person could make it to 17 board meetings a month, and attend to all of the other issues that are happening” throughout the district, she said. “If superintendents truly are there to support principals and to improve educational outcomes, how can one superintendent take on any more than we currently have?”
More schools and more students come with more logistical problems; after all, principals do not call the superintendent for a toothache. Instead, when a serious problem arises, they need someone who is present and able to support them in ensuring safety and compliance with the law, she said.
By the end of the hour, the discussion seemed to have been taking place in an echo chamber. This was reassuring to those in attendance who believe consensus is valuable when it comes time to challenge monumental Legislation. Still, those present decided to form a smaller working group in coming weeks to move past the problem and toward some workable solutions.
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