Longtime incumbent Sens. Bobby Starr, D-Orleans, and Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, have left Senate vacancies in two swing districts. In the Northeast Kingdom, a single issue is defining hotly contested Senate races in two purple districts: affordability. Orleans County and Caledonia County will have new senators next year following the decisions[Read More…]
Ethan Weinstein, VTDigger
Proposals to Close Calais, Worcester Schools Discussed at Forum
WORCESTER — Pizza, nostalgia, tears: Residents packed the gymnasium of this small town’s small school, extolling the virtues of Doty Memorial in the face of its possible closure. About 100 people attended back-to-back community forums Wednesday evening, the first organized by concerned residents and the second by the Washington Central[Read More…]
Former Orleans County Lawmaker Rodgers Runs for Lieutenant Governor
GLOVER – John Rodgers, a former Vermont House and Senate Democrat from Glover, is running for lieutenant governor as a Republican. “I don’t feel like I left the party. I feel like the party left me,” Rodgers said in an interview Friday, describing himself as a moderate. “I feel closer[Read More…]
Community Schools may be Future of Education but Funding Drying up
NEWPORT – Educators say schools are serving more needs than ever before. The community schools philosophy leans into this broad understanding of the role of public schools. Tired kids don’t do their best learning. So when Samantha Stevens, community schools coordinator at the North Country Supervisory Union, finds out that[Read More…]
Goddard College Will Move Entirely Online
PLAINFIELD – Goddard College will move to online-only education for at least a year, school leaders announced in a community letter on Friday. The Plainfield school has seen declining interest in in-person education, according to its leaders. The change, which will affect the Plainfield school’s fall 2024 and spring 2025[Read More…]
Education Spending Ticks Down
Montpelier – The latest data from the Vermont Agency of Education shows a small decrease in projected education spending and affirms previously anecdotal evidence on the major factors causing a projected increase in education property taxes. Health care costs, construction, special education, disappearing federal money and increased salaries are all[Read More…]
Lawmakers Consider Pushing Back School Budget Votes
MONTPELIER – Lawmakers are now talking about replacing a controversial cap on homestead property tax rates with a new tax “discount” that would apply only to districts losing tax capacity. “Five percent cap is over,” Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a joint[Read More…]
