Education officials ready for ‘massive work' with funding request

The group in charge of major decisions about the future of Vermont’s school landscape is asking for help.

The State Board of Education on Tuesday asked lawmakers for money to hire staff for the piles of work coming under the state’s new education law, known as Act 46.

The board has already begun interpreting the law and evaluating proposals from school districts that have volunteered to merge. Eventually, the board has authority to force school districts to combine if they haven’t met state expectations.

“Needless to say, this will require massive work at all levels,” board Chairman Stephan Morse wrote in a letter to Sen. Jane Kitchel and Rep. Mitzi Johnson, the leaders of money committees. “It will be fractious and difficult in some cases.”

But the 11-member board operates on a slim budget and without any staff, legal or otherwise.

“Unfortunately, the state did not provide any staffing for the 64 pages of new requirements set forth in the law,” Morse wrote.

The board is asking state lawmakers to create three staff positions, including one permanent position a lawyer and a facilitator who would work for the next four years.

Morse said in an interview that he doesn’t know how much the new positions would cost; however, the request would more than double the board’s annual budget of about $80,000.

The funding could come in the mid-year budget adjustment in January or in the 2017 budget.

Kitchel, the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday she had not yet seen the request, but she sympathizes with the board.

“We passed legislation that carries some very significant change and complexity and I wouldn’t simply say no,” Kitchel said.

The Vermont School Boards Association criticized Act 46 for lack of funding while it was being written. Now the group is reiterating calls for new staff positions for the Agency of Education as well as the State Board of Education.

“It’s important that progress not be stymied by lack of capacity at the state level,” said Nicole Mace, executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association.

The board request comes as Vermont lawmakers contemplate a gap of about $80 to 90 million in next year’s budget.

“I think it’s going to be a tough thing to accomplish given the state finances,” Morse said, adding that lawmakers have discussed staffing for the state board in the past.

The Board of Education expects to evaluate school district merger proposals for as many as 24 areas of the state before next summer. If approved by voters, the new school districts would receive special tax incentives.

This article was first published online Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank