Public view sought on school consolidation bills
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 10, 2010
MONTPELIER — Vermont has more school boards than it does towns, an oddity of its one-room schoolhouse past that spotlights what some believe is a cumbersome and inefficient system of school governance.
As Vermont looks to control education spending, elected officials are now eyeing district consolidation as a way to decrease school expenses. Tonight, lawmakers will ask residents to weigh in on competing proposals to reduce the number of school districts in Vermont.
"We are facing declining enrollments and increasing property taxes, and I'm looking at this in the context of how can we offer the best educational opportunities to Vermont children," Rep. Johanna Leddy Donovan, chairwoman of the House Committee on Education, said Tuesday. "If we can do that and have greater efficiencies and save money, then I think that's fabulous."
Two legislative proposals seek to reduce the number of districts in Vermont, however, they achieve that goal in different ways.
Sen. Robert Hartwell, a Bennington Democrat, has written legislation that would shrink the public school system into 16 supervisory union districts statewide. With the effects of a sour economy compounding the impact of education funding on Vermont taxpayers, he said, the school governance system is ripe for change.
Consolidating schools into 16 districts, he said, would allow districts to share services, reduce administrative and other costs, and improve educational opportunities for students.
"The system we have is completely cumbersome and unlike, I think, any other state," Hartwell said. "By consolidating to 16 districts, I think we would greatly improve school choice, save money in administrative and other expenses and enhance the quality of education we deliver to students."
Rep. Peter Peltz, a Woodbury Democrat who sits on the House Education Committee, said he believes there are merits to district consolidation. However the "top-down" approach favored by Hartwell, he said, won't fly with Vermont residents, nor will it necessarily result in effective governance structures.
Peltz is drafting legislation that encourages districts to consolidate voluntarily by providing financial incentives for doing so.
Peltz's bill, which is the more likely a vehicle for changes to school governance according to legislative leaders, would allow contiguous districts that meet certain qualifications to fold governance into a single board. The new board would oversee budgeting, contract negotiations and other financial issues. If the new district decreases overall spending among its member schools, it would be rewarded with higher state aid payments.
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