Voter-Approved Mergers:
- Since the enactment of Act 46 (2015):
- Voters in 151 districts located in 141 towns formed 38 new union school districts
- Three of the 38 new union districts were not eligible for tax rate reductions and other transitional assistance and were therefore subject to consideration in the State Board’s Final Report and Order
- Since the enactment of Acts 153 (2010), 156 (2012), and 46:
- Voters in 161 districts located in 146 towns formed 39 new union school districts
- Of the seven merger proposals that the voters did not approve:
- Voters in eight town districts located in nine towns approved merger
- Voters in 18 town districts in 18 towns did not approve merger
- In addition, in eight merger proposals that resulted in a new union district, the voters in eight districts did not approve the proposal and are not members of the new district
- July 1, 2016 – four unified districts became operational
- July 1, 2017 – eight unified districts became operational
- July 1, 2018 – 21 unified districts become operational
- July 1, 2019 – five unified districts become operational
The State Board’s Final Report and Order:
- SBE’s Report and Order addresses 96 districts:
- Merged 45 districts in 39 towns to:
- Form 11 new union school districts (7 responsible for PK-12; 4 responsible for PK-6 or PK-8)
- Enlarge 2 existing union school districts
- Net reduction of 34 districts
- Conditionally required an additional 4 town elementary districts to merge with 4 MUUSDs
- Did not change the governance structure of 47 districts
Students:
Of the 78,733 Kindergarten-Grade 12 students living in Vermont in the 2017-2018 academic year, approximately:
- 36,752 (47%) of them live (or will live) in a voter-approved unified school district created since 2015
- 16,495 additional students live in pre-existing supervisory districts (Burlington, etc.) – totaling 53,247 students (68%)
- 10,694 additional students will live in a union school district created by the State Board of Education’s Final Report and Order – totaling 63,941 students (81%)
Governance Changes:
- FY13 – Prior to mergers under Acts 153, 156, and 46, there were 276 districts in Vermont
- FY20 – After voter-approved mergers under Acts 153, 156, and 46, there were 154 districts
After State Board mergers, there are 120 districts
(Potential mergers of NMEDs with MUUSDs = there could be 116 districts)
- 59 SUs in FY16 – 51 Supervisory Unions as of November 30, 2018 (two will not be dissolved until July 1, 2019 and 2021)
