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Thursday’s vote was 22 to 8 in favor of her confirmation. All 13 Republicans and nine of 16 Democrats voted for Saunders.

The USDA sent a letter to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets last week informing them that about $1.7 million that was supposed to go toward purchasing local food in schools and food shelves would be withheld. The programs won’t be able to continue without the federal funds.

Teacher unions and some parent groups condemned the cuts, while school choice advocates celebrated them.

The most recent edition of the state’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is conducted in partnership with the state and the federal government, saw about a fifth of all high school students report bullying in 2023, and about one in seven make a suicide plan.

Ripton’s youngest students will be sent to neighboring Salisbury in the fall after a recruitment drive fell short of class minimums.

In 2024, the group StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice filed a complaint against Middlebury alleging illegal discrimination against Jewish students.

Budgets passed in at least 101 districts on Tuesday, according to preliminary data compiled by the state’s superintendent and school boards associations, and failed in just nine districts, many of which typically have trouble passing budgets.

Education officials argue that without intervention, health costs will only continue to cannibalize ever-larger shares of local school budgets � no matter what cost-containment measures Montpelier decides to impose on districts.

Underenrollment has long threatened the tiny, mountainside Ripton Elementary School. But now, parents in that community are racing the clock for one last chance to save their combined kindergarten-first grade class.

Like most school districts across Vermont, Essex Westford is facing dwindling enrollment and intense inflationary pressure, mostly notably in health care. Insurance costs are projected to reach approximately $16 million next year � about 14% of the district’s total budget.