STANNARD – Education spending is a hot topic statewide, and every community experiences the challenges from a different lens.
For Stannard, a community of about 200 people, the town has embraced its ability to support school choice for students in grades 7-12. Voters at town meeting this year remained supportive of the town school district budget, which funds the tuition for students eligible for school choice.
Part of the issue voters were asked to consider is how education spending legislation impacts the tax rate when the town must accept tuition bills largely outside of their influence. The $305,684.83 budget largely reflects expenses related to tuition payments, with $267,560 of the budget related to general instruction for students. The remainder of the budgetary expenses are administrative.
Tuition has increased by $19,600 from the year prior. The average increase in secondary school tuition by $5,000 was identified without a change in the student enrollment numbers. Chris Kurdek, who chairs Stannard’s School Board, says as time has progressed, the tuition expenses for most schools has leveled to approximately $24,000. “I feel so handcuffed here,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do.”
As part of the complex formulas that are used to calculate the actual tax burden, Vermont institutes a penalty where any per-pupil spending above a predetermined threshold is penalized by doubling the difference in the tax formula.
Board members were presented with three possible solutions by the OSSU: leave it unmitigated and face a possible $500 tax increase on every $100,000 of property, partially use surplus funds for an increase of $140, or use the entirety of the tuition surplus fund. The last option brings the overall burden to a $21 increase, which is substantially lower because only $96.09 of per-pupil expenses would be above the spending limit.
The budget initially presented to voters took the middle-of-the-road option with support from two out of the three school board members. Discussion was renewed at town meeting, asking voters to consider maximizing the use of the surplus funds as revenue to avoid incurring a large penalty.
“It feels like we’re throwing money away,” said Diane Janukajtis of the school board. Janukajtis was the one member who was in favor of spending down the surplus fund completely to avoid penalties.
With a motion on the floor to put that revenue source into the school budget, Kurdek cautioned that the town would be without any buffer for any additional students that may move into town in the upcoming year. Select board member Jan Lewandoski reminded everyone the school board could borrow money to cover such an expense.
OSSU Superintendent David Baker was present at the meeting and said he did not anticipate any major changes to enrollment from Stannard, which currently has 12 students in grades 7-12.
Resident John Reynolds offered some historical context of the liability of education spending processes from the 1960s and 1970s when more local schools closed.
“We’ve always been at the whim of state education rules and how they treat the towns,” he said.
The motion to increase revenues by the $24,600 difference in the tuition reserve fund was voted from the floor with consistent affirmation. Kurdek did advise that this process wouldn’t be sustainable in the future and more thinking outside of the box must be done to avoid swings in property taxes.
Proposals at the state level regarding education system structure and spending were briefly discussed by Janukajtis, Baker and Representative Michael Southworth, R-Walden, as they relate to local control and choices in Stannard.
In the race for town officers, a constable position yielded no nominations, although the prospects of an interested resident will be taken up by the select board at an upcoming meeting. Meanwhile, three nominations were submitted for the lister’s seat vacated by Chip Troiano: John Reynolds, Maria Messier and Mercedes Werner. The results were 10 Werner, 8 Reynolds, 7 Messier. Cindee Wheeler was elected as treasurer.
The select board reported that after two years of flooding, nearly $750,000 of money had to be borrowed to pay for road repairs relating to the adverse weather events in town. The select board has worked to recoup the maximum amount of reimbursement possible from FEMA and the State of Vermont, having secured the 2023 reimbursements. The 2024 disaster was reimbursed at a lower rate by FEMA as it didn’t meet the disaster criteria realized during the 2023 flooding. Municipal budgets for the year were unanimously approved.
Other business included discussion on the current reappraisal. Volunteers to assist the cemetery commission with restoration of slate gravestones at the Batchelder Cemetery, are needed to unearth centuries old stones that have sunken into the ground and developed moss over the years.
Notably absent from the town meeting was Regina Troiano, who served as the town’s treasurer for over 20 years and was active in the community in various capacities during the 52 years she lived in Stannard. Regina passed away in January and in remembrance of the significance of her contributions to the community, Moderator Tom Gilbert read the dedication to her from the town report. A palpable silence from the assembly followed.
“Our investments in our community continue to flourish beyond our lifetime,” Gilbert remarked as he transitioned voters into the business of the day.
Tyler is our weather reporter and a community journalist. He works as a nurse and EMT, volunteers with Hardwick Rescue and helps to train new EMTs.
