Senate Education Committee hears timeline, funding and district-size details for education transformation

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Senate Education Committee pressed the Agency of Education on the timeline, funding assumptions and district-size rationale behind the governor’s education transformation plan at a March 20 committee meeting.

“For the record, I’m Zoe Saunders, secretary of education,” Saunders said, and described agency commitments to support lawmakers as they consider changes to district governance and a new foundation funding formula.

The committee sought clarity on sequencing and funding. Saunders said the administration’s proposal and the bill contain a phased approach to transition, and that the plan assumes a buy-down of property taxes in fiscal year 2026 of $77,000,000, a block-grant approach for fiscal year 2027, and that fiscal year 2028 would be the first year using the proposed foundation funding formula. Saunders described the transition as phased and said the agency would provide written timelines and additional materials on request.

Why it matters: committee members said districts are already cutting services under…