MONTPELIER – I need to take a moment to update you all on some very important legislation that was passed out of the Vermont House and is now headed toward the Senate. H. 955, a bill detailing the next steps in Act 73, sets Vermont on the path towards school district consolidation through a voluntary democratic process that will be guided by local communities and culminate in a vote of the electorate to decide the ultimate fates of our schools. This legislation was developed through many months of long hours, hard work, and intense discussions in the House Education Committee.
We received feedback from over 5,000 Vermonters who overwhelmingly rejected the idea of forced mergers, but remain open to the possibility of transformative change if it is to include the voices of our local communities. H. 955 is the compromise that now allows Act 73 to actually move forward and begin saving our taxpayers their hard-earned dollars.
Without this legislation, our state would likely have been fighting an uphill battle against the will of the majority of Vermonters for many decades to come, forcing the education system that we currently have in place to remain unchanged. Neither the House nor the Senate had enough votes to force mergers, which created a political impasse and an inability to move forward with the Act 73 legislation that we enacted last spring.
You may hear some messaging being repeated that the legislature is merely “kicking the can down the road” with just another study committee, and it is really important to understand why this is not true. This is the first, and so far only, legislation that has been passed in the House which actually gives Act 73 a viable path to move towards mergers. The phrase “study committee” has some very negative connotations politically, and it would be more accurate to describe these committees as a “work group” that will hash out the details of new mergers on a very specific timeline with an end result that is now within sight. Here are some of those details:
The bill makes education more affordable for Vermonters and lowers costs for homeowners by establishing a new tax framework which includes a tax on second homes, which will over time reduce taxes on primary residences. The bill also restarts Vermont’s school construction program with up to $50 million annually in bonding capacity and full coverage of districts’ existing construction debt so that new regional high schools and middle schools can now actually be built.
Additionally, it creates seven regional Cooperative Educational Service Areas (CESAs) to deliver services more efficiently, expand access to specialized programs, coordinate transportation and back-office support, especially for small and rural schools.
Most importantly, any merger of school districts is entirely voluntary, decided locally, and must be approved by voters. The bill does not force top-down mergers from the state.
The bill will now move through the Senate, and may face a Committee of Conference later in the session as we move towards its passage. I am glad that we took the time to implement Act 73 the right way. Through H. 955, we have finally found a way to put kids first, keep costs under control and listen to local voices.
On one final note, for those of you who have been closely monitoring the progress of Act 181 legislation, I would like you to know that both the Road Rule and Tier 3 designations are being removed from this bill. The House Environment Committee has yet to release the bill to the House floor for a vote, but our Speaker of the House has confirmed that these changes are being made.
What H. 955 and Act 181 both have in common is that they encapsulate issues of local control and rural values, and their evolution is a result of everyday Vermonters organizing and communicating what kind of legislation we want in our state.
I am glad that I can now sincerely say that Vermont House of Representatives is listening. Thank you to everyone who has weighed in over the past four months on either of these topics. Your advocacy is what is making the difference for our future.
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.
