School officials exhaled with relief on Wednesday as they took stock of this year鈥檚 Town Meeting Day results, which saw over 90% of spending plans win voter approval.
Budgets passed in at least 101 districts on Tuesday, according to preliminary data compiled by the state鈥檚 superintendent and school boards associations, and failed in just nine districts, many of which typically have trouble passing budgets.
鈥淰oters came out for Vermont鈥檚 youth in approving school budgets 鈥� a big win for schools, families and our state鈥檚 future,鈥� Chelsea Myers, the executive director of the Vermont Superintendents Association, said in a statement. 鈥淲hen voters support school budgets, it鈥檚 a vote for moving Vermont public education forward.鈥�
It was a different story last year, when nearly a third of school budgets were shot down as Vermonters balked at property taxes that were set to rise by double digits. Last year鈥檚 Town Meeting Day results 鈥� and the November elections 鈥� prompted Gov. Phil Scott and lawmakers to pledge historic reforms to Vermont鈥檚 schools.
Ahead of this budget cycle, education leaders warned local officials that they should do everything they could to hold the line on spending. If locals didn鈥檛 find ways to trim their budgets, school leaders suggested, Montpelier would do it for them.
And so, despite intense cost pressures, districts either aggressively downsized or kept services as-is this budget cycle to keep taxes in check. The Vermont-NEA estimates schools statewide are collectively planning to cut between 300 and 400 positions next year.
It鈥檚 too soon to know how this year鈥檚 results will impact reform conversations at the Statehouse. But education property tax bills aren鈥檛 set to spike nearly as much as they did last year. Homestead rates differ from town to town, but the latest forecasts project an increase, and it鈥檚 likely Scott and lawmakers will use surplus funds to further buy down rates.
A handful of districts had not yet reported results as of noon Wednesday. And not all school districts vote on Town Meeting Day 鈥� nine are scheduled to vote at a later date, according to the school groups鈥� tally.
Local voters rejected spending plans in:
- Paine Mountain
- Fairfax
- Georgia
- Alburgh
- Wolcott
- Slate Valley
- Springfield
- Ludlow - Mount Holly
- Stamford
This post will be updated as more districts report their results.
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