Editor’s note: This article is by Lisa McCormack, of the Stowe Reporter, in which it was first published July 9, 2015.
[T]he Stowe School Board has difficult choices to make in the next several months.
If it follows a new state mandate requiring school districts to merge into larger organizations, school property taxes could increase 54 percent in the next seven years.
If it refuses to follow the mandate, taxes could still go up 53 percent over seven years, the state government could force a merger anyway, and local control of education would erode.
Board members were glum Tuesday at a discussion of what they’re going to do. One thing they agree on: They’ll do everything possible to minimize the impact of the state mandate on Stowe schools.
Rather than merge with its neighbors, the Stowe School Board has decided to petition the state to allow it to form “an alternative governance structure.”
The Stowe board met jointly with the Elmore and Morristown school boards — Stowe’s most likely merger partners — at Morristown Elementary School before meeting separately to discuss the new law.
Stowe had 726 students in the past school year, according to state statistics; Morristown had 793, and that total includes most of the 115 or so students from Elmore.
Act 46, passed by the Legislature in April, calls on the state’s 277 school districts to merge into districts with at least 900 pupils — considerably larger than most Vermont districts are now. The idea is to share resources and expertise, save money, and improve educational opportunities for students.
The Legislature was concerned that enrollment has dropped by 24,000 students statewide in the past 20 years, but school budgets and taxes have not gone down.
The law gives districts a few years to move voluntarily into larger districts, but empowers the State Board of Education in 2019 to restructure districts it believes need to make changes and have not.
School board members from Elmore, Morristown and Stowe, which together form the Lamoille South Supervisory Union, want to avoid a forcible merger at all costs.
“They’re telling us we have to paint our house and, by getting ahead of this, we get to pick our color,” said Morristown School Board member Dave McAllister.
Like their neighbors in Stowe, Morristown residents are expected to face huge increases in school property tax bills.
If Morristown doesn’t merge with another district, the tax rate would rise from $13.70 per $1,000 of assessed value to $21.90 between now and 2023, a 59 percent increase. Sharper increases would likely follow.
If Morristown pursues an accelerated merger — that is, offering a proposal by next June — taxes would rise 61 percent, from $13.70 to $22.10.
Elmore’s tax rate would increase from $16.80 to $22.40 per $1,000 of value, a 32 percent increase, without a merger, and 33 percent with an accelerated merger.
Newly formed education districts wouldn’t require that students be bused to different schools. And, at least for the first four years after a merger, no schools would be shuttered.
About 10 parents and residents attended Monday’s meeting. Several expressed concerns about the state mandate. A few said that they had moved to Stowe specifically for its intimate, high-quality school system.
“You may lose students if we become a New Jersey-style school district with 1,000 students,” said Jacquie Mauer, who moved to Stowe from Canada and has young children.
Budgets, local control
School board members are concerned that, after a merger, communities will have less control over their school budgets.
The new, larger districts will have one school board, with representatives from each merged town. How many representatives could be based on population or other factors; that hasn’t been defined.
The board will prepare a single budget for all schools in the district.
Members of the Stowe, Elmore and Morristown school boards say the changes aren’t likely to save any money in their districts, which have been collaborating for years, share many services, and turn out well-prepared students.
Instead, they say, the law is geared toward school districts that spend well above the state average, with poor results.
The law wasn’t written for us,” McAllister said. “There are a lot of hot messes out there.”
Elmore/Morristown
Morristown and Elmore are looking at forming a “unified union school district” to help control rising school taxes in Elmore.
The idea came up in 2014, when Elmore residents rejected the school budget proposal to protest state inaction, which led to rising taxes.
Tax rates have increased 75 percent in the past four years, making a merger necessary, said Elmore board member Stuart Weppler.
In March, town-meeting voters decided to study merger options. State funds will cover the cost of the study.
The Elmore and Morristown school boards are drafting articles for a merger, which are subject to approval by the State Board of Education. The merger plan will go to voters in both communities Nov. 3; a majority vote in each town is needed for approval.
The merger would save Elmore about $600,000 in its first year, largely because it would no longer have to pay tuition to other school districts. Taxes on a home worth $300,000 would go down $900. If Elmore does nothing, and runs into a state cap on spending, taxes on that $300,000 house would rise $1,200.
The merger would raise the school tax rate in Morristown slightly, but would offer other benefits.
Now, 93 Elmore students attend Morristown schools. A merger could keep those students from deciding to attend school elsewhere, which would cut into the district’s revenue. It could also help stabilize enrollment and the education tax over time.
“We feel we should be working together for what’s best for the students,” said Morristown School Board Chair Stephanie Craig.
However, under the new law, because Elmore and Morristown would have fewer than 900 students, they’d need another merger partner.
If Stowe isn’t interested, they would have to look elsewhere, said Penny Jones, chair of the Elmore School Board.
