Vermont’s landmark education bill, signed into law this month, queues up some big changes to the state’s education system in the months and years to come. But one immediate impact is the bill’s effect on private schools, called independent schools under Vermont law.
Those changes, which went into effect on July 1 — the same day Gov. Phil Scott signed Act 73 into law — have left some independent schools and advocates uncertain, and others reeling.
Under the new law, private schools located in the state now have to pass two tests in order to be eligible for public funding. First, they must be physically located in a school district or in a supervisory union — an administrative unit made up of multiple districts — where at least one school district does not operate a public school for some or all grades as of last July.
Second, for a school to remain eligible, students funded by a Vermont public school district during the 2023-24 school year must comprise at least 25% of the student body. (Private therapeutic schools that serve special needs students are exempt from these requirements).
While some independent schools on the margins are waiting for the Vermont Agency of Education to confirm what side of the line they are on, others already know their eligibility status.
“There’s a large number of schools that, right off the bat, are just out of the mix,” said Oliver Olsen, a former state representative and a lobbyist for the Vermont Independent Schools Association.
The population of publicly-funded students at Vermont’s independent schools make up a minimal percentage of Vermont’s overall kindergarten through 12th-grade population. Although around 9,680 students attended K-12 independent schools in Vermont during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Vermont Agency of Education — roughly 10.5% of the total K-12 student population that year — only slightly more than one-third of those students, around 3,540, were being paid for by their public school district.
But the issue took on a large share of attention as the Legislature crafted Act 73 this year. Public school advocates took issue with perceived conflicts of interest among lawmakers with ties to independent schools.
Meanwhile, significant limitations on the use of public funds to pay for private schools were put in place.
Olsen estimates that, under Act 73, more than half of Vermont’s independent schools that were previously eligible for public funding will now no longer be eligible.
As part of a transition mechanism in the legislation, students who were already enrolled, or were accepted to be enrolled in now ineligible independent schools before July 1, will still be eligible to receive public tuition to attend those schools through graduation.
But for future students, options will be limited going forward, Olsen said.
“H.454, now Act 73, results in the biggest reduction in access to independent schools in the history of Vermont’s education system, without question,” he said.
Uncertainty in Bennington
Independent schools have historically served more rural parts of the state that don’t have public schools for certain grades, often in middle school or high school. This dynamic has played an important role in many of the state’s supervisory unions, which function as administrative superstructures that allow otherwise distinct member school districts to share services.
A half dozen independent schools that serve mostly publicly-funded students — St. Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon Institute in the Northeast Kingdom, Thetford Academy and Sharon Academy in the Upper Valley, and Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester, among them — will easily pass both tests in the law.
But other private schools are still unsure whether they will qualify for public funding under Act 73’s new provisions. The state Agency of Education is working to validate enrollment data for the state’s independent schools and the school districts that send students to them.
Education Secretary Zoie Saunders, during a state Board of Education meeting this month, said that the validation process for eligibility remains underway. The agency set a July 28 deadline for schools to certify their 2023-2024 enrollment data with the state.
She noted during the meeting that the effective date for the new eligibility criteria “coincided with the date that this was enacted into law, so that creates a little bit of a challenge.”
Rep. Will Greer, D-Bennington voted against H.454. In an interview last week, Greer said he worried the law does not achieve what the Legislature set out to do — reduce the burden on taxpayers — and may have negative consequences for public and independent schools alike.
In his district, the Village School of North Bennington will still qualify for the public tuition program, Greer said, but it is uncertain whether the Southshire School or the Hiland Hall School will still qualify under the 25% threshold.
It’s not the only part of the law he’s concerned about: Restricting multiage classrooms to two grade levels for kindergarten through eighth grade — one of the law’s new requirements for public and private schools alike — is certain to negatively impact the Southshire School and the Hiland Hall, Greer said, because they often place students from three grades in the same classroom.
Many students with learning disabilities benefit from being paired with students with similar skill sets, rather than students who are in the same grade, he said.
‘Huge impact’
Some schools already know where they stand, including The Grammar School in Putney, a small independent school serving 85 to 95 students in pre-K through 8th grade.
The school was immediately disqualified by the 25% threshold requirement, said Nick Perry, the head of the school. “It was a non-starter for us,” he said. “It would be nearly impossible for us to reach that 25% threshold.”
While the total population of The Grammar School does not meet the 25% threshold, Perry said it would if just the upper grades were considered, rather than the school’s whole student body.
Neighboring school districts serving the towns of Vernon, Dover, Grafton and Westminster pay for almost half of the school’s seventh and eighth grade student population every year, he said.
Perry said he has talked to parents from those towns who were looking forward to sending their students to The Grammar School for those grades. But now, those parents have fewer options and do not know if they will be able to afford the tuition without the public funding program, he said.
The Grammar School aims to accept as many students through their financial aid program as possible, but Perry said he is “projecting a huge impact” on both their budget and school community in the coming years.
The nearby Putney School, a high school with around 230 students, will also not be able to receive publicly-funded tuition anymore due to the new 25% floor, said head of school Danny O’Brien. There are typically only five to 10 publicly-funded students there every year, he said.
While the school community appreciated having as many Vermont students as possible at the Putney School, the school plans to continue to bring in students from Vermont through need-based financial aid.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Long Trail School is among the independent schools that will still qualify under the two-prong requirements. The school resides in a district that does not operate a high school — Taconic & Green Regional School District — and had 73% of its student body receiving public tuitioning funds in the 2023-2024 school year, according to Head of School Colin Igoe.
Igoe noted that there are “real problems” that have risen from Vermont’s “byzantine” education funding system. But, he said, the restrictions placed on independent schools do not solve those issues and will have unintended consequences.
Particularly, Igoe said he is concerned that the requirement for average class size minimums under the education reform legislation could cause a “devastating” impact on students’ educational experience at Long Trail and other independent schools.
Under the law, an average of at least 10 students per classroom would be required in first grade, 12 students in grades 2 through 5, 15 in grades 6 through 8; and 18 students for grades 9 through 12.
These class size minimums would take effect in July 2026 for the 2026-27 school year and would apply to both public schools and private schools that receive tuition from public school districts.
Igoe said there is a misconception that independent schools cost taxpayers more. No public funding goes to capital projects, such as building construction or large purchases, for independent schools, he said.
Not only is the public tuitioning program a “drop in the bucket,” Igoe said independent schools serve a “public purpose” for rural communities that don’t have accessible public school options.
“Independent schools have stepped in to fill the gap where we don’t offer public schools,” Igoe said. “ We shouldn’t want to try to dismantle that because we’re not in competition with public schools.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Hiland Hall School. Because of an editing error, a previous version of this story misnamed the Lyndon Institute.
