VSBA/VSA Annual Conference
Doubletree by Hilton | Burlington, VT
Pre-Conference Workshop & Banquet
October 29
October 30
Annual Conference
Join us in Burlington for the Annual VSBA/VSA Conference where the theme will be Leading Through Change: Clarity, Courage, and Community.
Vermont's school boards and superintendents are leading through one of the most significant periods of change in public education. As districts navigate evolving policies, financial realities, and community expectations, effective leadership requires clarity, collaboration, and a steadfast focus on students.
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Join colleagues from across Vermont for learning, practical strategies, and meaningful conversation designed to strengthen governance and leadership.
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Conference highlights include:
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Keynote: Matt Lehrman – From Conflict to Conversation
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Practical workshops on governance, school finance, and community engagement
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Leadership sessions on data-informed decision-making and long-range facilities planning
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Networking with school board members, superintendents, and education leaders from across Vermont
Whether you're making decisions today or planning for tomorrow, you'll leave with new ideas, practical tools, and stronger connections to help lead your district with confidence.
Thursday, October 29​
2:30 - 8:00 pm
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Pre-conference Workshop:
Leading Through Change:
Governance Leadership in a Time of Transformation
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This session will help board-superintendent teams assess and strengthen their working relationship — especially the communication norms, role clarity, and trust-building practices that become critical under stress. Practical and reflective; could include a short team self-assessment tool.
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Banquet Dinner
President's Welcome and Remarks
Student Presentations​​​​​
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Evening Trivia Social
Friday, October 30
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
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Keynote
From Conflict to Conversation
Presenter: Matt Lehrman
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​​​ Leadership Learning Sessions On: ​​
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Better Board Communication
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Budget And Finance
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Facilities Planning
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Data-Informed Decision Making
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Community Engagement
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Sponsor Workshops
Conference registration is intended for individuals participating in the event for professional learning, networking, and collaboration. By registering for the conference, you agree to the following terms and conditions.
AGENDA
Thursday, October 29, 2026
2:30 - 5:30
Pre-Conference Workshop: Leading Through Change: Governance Leadership in a Time of Transformation
5:30 - 6:00
Networking Reception
6:00 - 7:30
Banquet Dinner and Student Performances
8:00 - 9:00
Evening Trivia Social
Friday, October 30, 2026
7:30 - 8:45
Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:00 - 8:15
VSBIT Annual Meeting
8:15 - 8:30
VEHI Annual Meeting
8:45 - 9:30
Welcome
9:30 - 11:00
Keynote: Matt Lehrman – From Conflict to Conversation
11:00 - 11:15
Networking Break/Visit Sponsors
11:20 - 12:35
Leadership Learning Sessions (workshops) Round 1
12:40 - 1:30
Regional Lunch and Award Presentations
1:40 - 2:10
Sponsor Learning Sessions
2:15 - 3:30
Leadership Learning Sessions (workshops) Round 2
3:40 - 4:00
Closing Reflections and Sponsor Raffle
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
Strong Foundations for a Changing Education Landscape
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Vermont’s changing education landscape requires school boards and superintendents to navigate consequential decisions while maintaining strong, effective governance. This interactive pre-conference workshop will help leadership teams strengthen the foundations needed to lead through the changes ahead.
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Participants will review key responsibilities under Vermont’s Open Meeting Law and Public Records Act, examine board and superintendent roles and responsibilities, and use a team self-assessment to reflect on practices that support effective governance.
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The workshop will also feature Michael Berardino of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), who will share new research examining why school system change so often remains incremental even when leaders are motivated to pursue transformation. Drawing on research with New England superintendents, Michael will explore the gap between leaders’ ambitions for change and what they ultimately pursue—including how differing definitions of transformation, local priorities, stakeholder expectations, and perceptions of what is feasible shape the work. Participants will consider these findings in Vermont’s context and discuss what meaningful systems change could look like in their own communities.
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The afternoon will conclude with a discussion of regional and statewide collective bargaining trends and how they can inform effective planning and practices within Vermont’s evolving education landscape.
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Training Requirement: Joint attendance at the VSBA/VSA Annual Conference and Pre-Conference Workshop satisfies the eight-hour annual training requirement for board chairs, supervisory union board chairs, and superintendents under 16 V.S.A. § 561(b).
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This pre-conference workshop is for superintendents, board officers and aspiring board officers.
KEYNOTE
From Conflict to Conversation
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What do you do when emotions are running high, opinions are deeply divided, and every option seems certain to disappoint someone? The answer is not to eliminate disagreement. The answer is to lead through it.
In this engaging and practical keynote, civic facilitator Matt Lehrman shares strategies for helping people feel heard, engaging competing perspectives, and creating productive dialogue around complex and contentious issues. You'll gain practical tools to strengthen trust, improve decision-making, and help your community move forward together.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Matt Lehrman
Matt Lehrman is a civic facilitator and Managing Director of Social Prosperity Partners. He helps public leaders and governing bodies navigate complexity, engage competing perspectives, and make difficult decisions in ways that strengthen trust and community. Drawing on years of experience in facilitation, public engagement, and leadership development, he works with communities across the country to turn disagreement into dialogue and shared challenges into opportunities for progress.
LEADERSHIP LEARNING SESSIONS
All workshops will be held at 11:20 am and repeated at 2:15 pm
Let's Talk: From Conflict to Conversation
Every community faces difficult conversations. Following his keynote, Matt Lehrman will facilitate a practical discussion among attendees about the challenges they face in their own communities. Together, participants will explore strategies for engaging competing perspectives, addressing contentious issues, and creating the conditions for productive dialogue. Bring a challenge you're facing, an idea you're wrestling with, or a conversation that isn't going the way you'd hoped. Chances are someone else in the room has been there too.
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Presenter: Matt Lehrman, Civic Facilitator
Aligning Resources to Priorities:
Making Strategic Tradeoffs for Student Impact
District Budget Hold'em is a fast-paced, interactive budgeting simulation that puts you in the seats of district decision makers. Working in teams, you will make the same kinds of choices that board members, superintendents, business managers, and instructional leaders face as you balance fiscal realities against student needs and community priorities.
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As constraints shift and teams negotiate, participants see the tradeoffs behind the budget recommendations boards receive. You'll come away with a better understanding of how district leaders build budgets and how those decisions affect students. You will also have practical ways for boards to set priorities, ask strategic questions, and evaluate recommendations.
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Learning Objectives
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Analyze budget tradeoffs by weighing investments and reductions against district priorities, student outcomes, and fiscal constraints.
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Strengthen governance and oversight practices by exploring the types of strategic questions school board members can ask when reviewing budgets, resource allocation decisions, and proposed reductions or investments.
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Develop a deeper understanding of the budget development process, including how district leaders balance academic, operational, and financial considerations when making recommendations to governing boards.
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Apply a strategic budgeting lens that moves beyond across-the-board cuts and focuses on aligning resources to district goals, community priorities, and long-term student success.
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Presenter: Dr. Ventura Rodriguez, ER Strategies
Better Board Decisions Start with Better Data
School boards are increasingly asked to make decisions about budgets, facilities, staffing, enrollment, and educational programming in a rapidly changing environment. But effective governance requires more than information—it requires the right information. This session will introduce participants to valuable demographic, economic, and population data resources available through the U.S. Census Bureau and Vermont State Data Center. Learn how to access and interpret data on population trends, housing, workforce demographics, enrollment pressures, and community characteristics to better understand the communities your schools serve. Participants will explore practical ways to use data to inform planning, strengthen communication with stakeholders, and support evidence-based decision-making.
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Presenter: Michael Moser, Research Operations Director,
The Center for Rural Studies at UVM
Designing Tomorrow’s Schools: Aligning School Facilities, District/School Mergers, and Student Learning
School facilities are more than physical structures—they are the foundation for student opportunity, community identity, financial sustainability, and regional and statewide equity. Vermont districts are currently navigating new legislation, declining student enrollment, evolving governance structures, and rising costs. Based on current conditions and recent legislation, school districts must evaluate building conditions not just for maintenance, but as catalyst points for voluntary mergers and impacts on student learning.
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This session will explore how boards can integrate comprehensive facility assessments with merger feasibility studies in service of student learning by examining enrollment trends, demographic data, and long-range capital planning. The workshop will also provide an overview of Vermont's relevant Act 170 points including district size, merger studies, school construction aid, statewide facilities planning guidelines.
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Presenters: John Alberghini and Sean McMannon,
Former Vermont Superintendents
From Data to Decisions:
Using Evidence to Improve Student Outcomes
School boards and district leaders are increasingly asked to make difficult decisions about programs, staffing, and budgets in a rapidly changing environment. Using real examples from Maple Run School District, this session explores how districts can use data, community input, and continuous improvement to identify priorities, make strategic resource decisions, and evaluate whether investments are producing meaningful results for students. Participants will leave with practical strategies for aligning budgets with district goals and using evidence to strengthen both decision-making and community trust.
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Presenter: Bill Kimball, Superintendent, Maple Run Unified School District
SPONSORS
SPONSOR WORKSHOPS
Maximizing Federal Child Nutrition Funds to Feed Kids Well
This session will provide a high-level overview of how school boards can maximize federal child nutrition funds to provide high-quality, nutritious meals for kids in their districts. If you’re curious about what your board can do to improve meal quality, ensure that local funds are being spent efficiently on your meals program, and help vulnerable kids in your community be well-nourished and ready to learn, this session is for you! The session will be presented by staff from the Agency of Education Child Nutrition Programs.
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Hosted by: Agency of Education Child Nutrition Programs
Leading the Shift: From Adoption to Literacy
Selecting high-quality literacy instructional material is just the beginning. True implementation requires intentional leadership. This session will focus on how boards and superintendents can establish expectations for high-quality literacy instruction, understand whether implementation is having the intended impact, use data to monitor progress, appropriately allocate resources, and distinguish between the board’s governance role and the administration’s role in implementation.
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Hosted by: Curriculum Associates
We've Been Here Before:
170 Years of School Consolidation in Vermont
Vermont has been debating school size, governance, funding, and access for more than 170 years. Using original mapping and historical research, this session traces the major inflection points that shaped today's educational landscape and explores what those patterns might tell us about the future.
Hosted by: TruexCullins
Beyond Caseload Counts:
Using Data to Right-Size Special Education Staffing in Vermont
Vermont districts continue to face significant challenges recruiting and retaining special education staff while ensuring that resources are aligned with student needs. This session will explore why caseload counts alone may not provide a complete picture of staffing needs and how a more comprehensive analysis of direct and indirect responsibilities can inform workforce and resource planning. Through real-world examples, participants will consider the data and questions boards and superintendents can use to evaluate whether special education staffing is sustainable, appropriately allocated, and responsive to student needs.
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Hosted by: Boothby Therapy Services
Relevancy for All Vermont Students
The College Board is working to broaden access to high-quality CTE pathways and AP courses with Projects across the Northeast. AP's Career Kickstart courses aspire to expand the successful AP model to the career and technical education space by offering high schools a new set of career-oriented courses and exams. Session attendees will learn how College Board is partnering with employers, college faculty, and high school educators to design courses that prepare students for their first job and help them complete a college degree faster, along with our AP courses with Projects and career-connected learning opportunities through the SAT Suite of Assessments.
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Hosted by: College Board
