VTDigger is posting regular updates on the coronavirus in Vermont on this page. You can also subscribe here for regular email updates on the coronavirus. If you have any questions, thoughts or updates on how Vermont is responding to Covid-19, contact us at coronavirus@vtdigger.org
Budget writers in the Vermont House and Senate are eyeing the state’s coronavirus federal stimulus dollars to buy the Vermont State Colleges System more time to explore its options, instead of shuttering three campuses outright.
VSCS trustees are considering a proposal to close Northern Vermont University, which has campuses in Lyndon and Johnson, and as well as Vermont Technical College’s main campus in Randolph, before the start of the next academic year. But legislative leaders have urged college officials to maintain the status quo for another year as they explore alternatives, and consider the impact such a move would have on local economies.
VSCS officials say they are running out of cash at a rapid clip and need at least $25 million in bridge funding right away, whether or not the three campuses close or the plan is put on ice.
Chancellor Jeb Spaulding has argued that the price tag is likely to climb if NVU and VTC are kept open through the next academic year, since students will be likely to transfer out amid the uncertainty.
“At its core the question we will have to entertain is would we put $25 million on the table to buy the time to have a better decision-making process, independent set of eyes and a better understanding of the broader economic impacts of a school closure or three school closures,” Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Ashe D/P Chittenden told the Senate caucus Tuesday.
Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that she was in favor of finding “bridge” funding needed to keep the colleges open for the time being.
“I would be very much supportive of funding for helping us with this transition as we move to sort of a bridge and sort of a more comprehensive and thoughtful plan of action, and fully understanding the implications of what we do,” Kitchel said.
But because revenues have substantially declined during the pandemic, she said she wouldn’t use state dollars to fund the $25 million increase.
She instead pointed to the $1.25 billion the state has received from the federal government and has wide latitude to use to cover expenses related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tom Kavet, the Legislature’s economist, also noted that senators might be able to use the federal dollars to “buy [them] some time to look at restructuring options.”
The chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kitty Toll, D-Danville, said she supported using the federal dollars to keep the colleges open. But she said that funding can’t be used to bridge to “what already exists.”
She, like other lawmakers, wants the state to conduct a “thorough analysis to see what we need and to build a system that will satisfy the future and be viable.”
“I think we have to be very clear what we are bridging to,” Toll said. “And that is going to take some time to determine what the future looks like, and that we’re meeting the needs of Vermont students and that we’re also considering the economy of the areas that these colleges are located in.”
Vermont’s congressional delegation, meanwhile, has also urged trustees not to make their decision in haste.
In a statement released Monday, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said there was “no easy answer to the challenges facing our state college system.”
“We need the time to have a statewide discussion which includes all of the stakeholders. Unfortunately, that kind of discussion cannot take place in the middle of a pandemic and stay-at-home practices,” Sanders wrote.
And in a joint statement released Tuesday, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch, both Democrats, thanked trustees for delaying their decision by at least a week and called for “a creative path forward.”
“Demographic changes have forced the state colleges to adapt frequently over the past few years, and they have proven that they can do that while still providing Vermonters with access to quality education,” the two congressmen wrote.
Trustees have said they expect to come to a decision as soon as Monday, but an emergency board meeting has been scheduled for this evening.
