MONTPELIER – I want to share an update on the education bill that the House Education Committee advanced.
At its core, this proposal is about finding long-term, sustainable ways to support our schools while recognizing Vermont’s rural reality and strong sense of local identity. This work builds on months of research and input from across the state, including thousands of Vermonters who contacted us to emphasize the importance of local voice in deciding the future of our state’s educational landscape. Just as important, the committee kept front-and-center what works in more populated areas doesn’t always work in small towns like ours.
First, the bill creates regional Cooperative Education Service Areas (CESAs). These are not school mergers. They’re regional partnerships designed to help districts share services, coordinate resources and reduce costs in areas such as transportation, technology and cyber security services, professional development, special education support, and administrative coordination just to name a few examples. The idea behind CESAs is to help school districts work together to save money while keeping local identity intact.
Second, and this is the most important part to understand, any school district mergers discussed in this bill are strictly voluntary. There are no forced mergers in this proposal. Communities would only move forward if local districts see clear educational benefits in consolidation and choose to explore strategic mergers of their own design. These mergers do not have to follow the lines provided by the sample map that is included in the bill. That map is just provided as an example. It is also important to note that even if a district does decide to explore a merger, the final decision would come back to the voters. That means any merger would ultimately require a community vote. Local residents will have the final say, not the Statehouse.
The goal is to give communities tools and options instead of mandates. In some places, strategic mergers could bring schools up to scale and help expand opportunities for students, such as through better access to advanced classes, technical programs, mental health supports and extracurriculars that are hard to sustain in very small schools. But again, I really want to emphasize that those decisions would be made locally and only move forward if voters agree. Nothing in this bill requires a community to merge, and nothing happens without local approval at the end of the process.
The bill now heads to the House Ways and Means Committee, where the focus will shift to education funding, which is another big piece of this conversation.
As always, I’ll continue sharing updates, including at my monthly coffee hour this Saturday from 10 until noon at the Highland Center for the Arts. Please reach out if you have questions. These decisions should be guided by informed discussion and local voices and ultimately, by the people who live here.
I will end by saying that a year ago, when Act 73 first passed, I never would have believed that we could be here a year later embedding local decision-making into the process, and getting this bill out of the committee and onto the House Floor has been the culmination of months of hard work and difficult debate, culminating in a huge and unexpected win for small towns and rural communities.
It continues to be an honor to serve our community.
Leanne Harple represents Orleans-4, including the towns of Albany, Craftsbury, Glover and Greensboro.
Rep. Leanne Harple
Leanne Harple represents Orleans-4, the towns of Albany, Craftsbury, Glover and Greensboro.
