Vermont will have one less public school at the start of the next school year. The State Board of Education approved a proposal today to shut down the public elementary school in the town of North Bennington and replace it with an independent school.
The proposal originated last spring, when North Bennington residents first voted in favor of the change, but it languished after the state board rejected the request on the grounds that it did not address the special education needs of the student population.
Declining enrollment numbers were a driving factor behind the change, prompting some residents to call for preemptive action to prevent the state from mandating a school district merger. (The state does not currently have the statutory authority to take this action.)
It took three votes over the course of nearly a year, but the board voted 5-2 in favor of the measure this time around.
There won’t be radical physical changes — the independent “North Bennington Village School” will be located in the same building — but North Bennington will now become a tuition town, enabling students to use their state-allotted tuition to attend any school of their choosing.
Stephan Morse and Armando Vilaseca both urged the state board to approve the measure in order to comply with state law, which requires it to sanction independent school proposals if they meet the state’s criteria.
Vilaseca, however, said he made it clear to the state board that “I have a philosophical problem with what occurred.” For lawmakers, too, the decision has brought to the surface deep-seated qualms about using public funds to support independent or private schools that don’t have to adhere to the state’s public schools standards.
“I think there are many of us who have mixed feelings about that,” said Rep. Johanna Donovan, referring to the House Education Committee, which she chairs.
According to Mill Moore, the executive director of the Vermont Independent Schools Association, a number of other towns, including Killington and Burke, have been considering making the same move from public to independent. Moore said the state board’s decision to grant approval to North Bennington may pave the way for other towns, but he expects lawmakers will introduce bill in the upcoming session to clamp down on the trend.
