Act 46: State Board of Education's Final Report of Decisions and Order

The State Board of Education’s Final Report of Decisions and Order on Statewide School District Mergers is a requirement of Act 46. It is the conclusion of a multiyear process to create more sustainable and efficient school governance structures and improve access to quality PreK-12 education for all Vermont students.

Creating the Plan

In crafting the Final Report of Decisions and Order, the Board paid careful attention to the goals and requirements of Act 46. Additionally, the Board encouraged input and testimony from all affected districts and from the citizens of Vermont. While there were many tough decisions, the Board was careful to adhere to the Vermont General Assembly’s requirements as laid out in the law.

By the Numbers

The goal of Act 46 is to improve education outcomes and equity by creating larger and more efficient school governance structures. The Board’s Final Report of Decisions and Order has:

Merged 45 districts in 39 towns to form 11 new union school districts.
Enlarged 3 existing union school districts.
Created a net reduction of 34 districts.
Conditionally required an additional 4 districts to merge with 4 existing union districts.

When the impacts of Act 46 are combined with those of predecessor legislation (Act 153 of 2010 and Act 156 of 2012), the results are:

206 districts in 185 towns have formed 50 new union school districts (a reduction of 156) districts.
63% percent of Vermont K-12 students will live in a new union school district created by Acts 46, 153 and 156 (as of July 1, 2019).
84.4% of students will reside in a new union school district or a pre-existing supervisory district (preferred structure) such as Burlington or Springfield SDs.