Voters rejected the Barre Unified Union School District’s roughly $54 million budget Tuesday, forcing a do-over of a controversial school spending plan.
On Town Meeting Day, voters cast ballots on the $53.9 million financial blueprint that called for a 1.5% increase in spending across the district. That relatively small spending increase sparked fierce opposition in Barre, as many — including the school board chair — protested that it would underfund school services.
According to results provided Tuesday night by city officials and Barre superintendent Chris Hennessey, the budget failed by a roughly 3-2 margin.
In Barre City, residents voted against the budget, 769-454, according to results sent by the city clerk Carolyn Dawes.
In Barre Town, Hennessey said, preliminary numbers showed the budget failed, 941-703.
“We’re ready to get back to the drawing board with our school board,” Hennessey said when asked for his reaction.
The vote caps roughly two months of tension and controversy within the district.
In January, the Barre Unified Union School District board narrowly voted to send the budget to voters in Barre and Barre Town.
The budget’s increase of 1.5% was far below the statewide norm, and was slated to leave Barre with a per-pupil spending level of about $17,200 — one of the lowest rates in the state.
In order to work within that relatively small budget increase — which came amid rising costs and increased student needs across the state — Barre schools would need to implement significant cuts to programs and payrolls, administrators said.
Over the past few months, school board members and residents have traded blame over the financial blueprint.
Some community members — including the school board chair, Sonya Spaulding — asked voters to reject the spending plan, arguing that the onerous cuts to school programs would detract from students’ education.
“I cannot support a budget that provides the bare minimum for my children,” one district parent, Anastasia Douglas, wrote to board members last month.
Others have argued that the budget provides enough money for the schools, and that warnings about cuts are overblown. Some board members have pointed fingers at district administrators, saying they did not provide information quickly enough and that the budget could have been amended had they acted sooner.
“This is insubordinate behavior, as far as I’m concerned,” board member Paul Malone said at a February board meeting.
Overall, Vermont’s education spending for the next school year is projected to rise 7.7% from the current year, state officials said. That increase, though less than initially expected, would represent the greatest jump in statewide school spending since at least 2018.
Inflation has driven up costs for school districts, and workforce shortages have pushed up wages as districts compete for employees. Officials also pointed to rising costs for health insurance and special education, as well increased needs around students’ mental health.
The budget’s failure means that board members will go back to the drawing board to come up with a new proposal for voters in the coming months.
VTDigger will publish more school budget vote results on Wednesday.