Association Members Vote to Support Repeal of Act 82
At the VSBA’s annual Business Meeting on November 1st, members of the Association representing 43 boards voted to approve a resolution that calls for the repeal of Vermont’s Act 82 in its entirety. Before being approved, the resolution was amended from an earlier draft that called specifically for the repeal of Section 5 of the Act, the two-vote provision. Association members felt that Act 82 as a whole was disrespectful towards school boards and that calling for the repeal of only Section 5 was an insufficient response to the legislation’s passage.
Newly elected VSBA President Peter Herman of West Topsham supported the resolution and told From the Boardroom, "There are numerous flaws in Act 82, but the most significant objection we have heard from school board members is that it interferes with their ability to present their budgets to their communities in an understandable and objective way. The result will be that the voters in some districts will oppose budgets in the erroneous belief that are being asked to approve unnecessary spending."
Discontent with the law was evident during a meeting the following day with Senator Don Collins and Representative Janet Ancel, the respective chairs of the two legislative committees on education. During the meeting, board members and school officials from all corners of the state expressed their displeasure with the last minute Act 82 adoption process, which allowed for no public comment prior to its enactment. The Legislators both acknowledged that the wording of the two-vote provision might be modified in the upcoming session, but Ancel noted that political support for the law itself remained strong within the legislative leadership.
President Herman voiced his displeasure with the current state of education policy making to attendees of the two-day VSBA/VSA Annual Conference. "We want and expect full support for local school leadership from the State Board and the Commissioner, and at least a fair hearing from the executive and the Legislature," he said. "We need to mobilize school boards and individual members, and I will make that priority number one."
Three other resolutions passed during the Business Meeting. One, sponsored by the VSBA Resolutions Committee, calls for the repeal of the school construction aid moratorium. A resolution proposed by the Wallingford board calling for the State to legalize executive session for boards to discuss security of school property was approved after considerable discussion. This is currently not an allowable reason for boards to enter executive session. The Association also approved a resolution sponsored by the Lamoille Union High School board supporting the delivery of social and medical services in school when a district is fully reimbursed for its costs.
The Business Meeting was held during the VSBA/VSA’s Annual Fall Conference at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier on November 1-2. Keynote speaker Alan November demonstrated how to use technology to build learning communities. Jerry Johnson of Eastern Kentucky University presented research showing academic and economic advantages resulting from rural educational settings.
