Conference draft narrows eligibility for public tuition to approved independent schools, allows limited supplemental fee for secondary grades

Conferees reviewed a revised tuition section in the H.454 conference draft that changes eligibility for public tuition payments and adds a narrowly defined process for receiving schools to charge supplemental fees for high-school grades.

Under the draft, an approved independent school must meet multiple conditions to be eligible for public tuition: it must be located in Vermont, be an approved independent school as of the relevant cutoff date, be located in a supervisory union that does not operate some or all grades as of 07/01/2024, and have at least 25% of its student enrollment composed of students attending on a publicly funded tuition basis. Additionally, the independent school must comply with the bill’s class-size minimums or an approved waiver process.

The draft creates a new subsection (b) that would allow a receiving school to charge an additional fee for students in grades 9–12 equal to up to 0.05 times the base amount (a 5% surcharge) "in addition to the tuition amount calculated in subsection a," but only if several conditions are met: the receiving school obtains approval from the State Board of Education under rules the board adopts; the electorate of each sending school district with at least one student attending the receiving school has approved supplemental district spending sufficient to cover the additional fee; and the fee is applied uniformly to all publicly funded students attending the receiving school (the receiving school is prohibited from charging different fees to different districts).

The draft also explicitly excludes approved independent schools that are functioning as area career and technical education (CTE) centers from the receiving-school definition for the supplemental-fee provision. Separately, the bill continues to allow an approved independent school functioning as a CTE center to charge its full tuition to a sending district.

Why it matters: these changes alter which private or independent schools can receive public tuition and set a pathway for receiving schools to obtain additional funding to cover secondary-grade costs — but only after State Board approval and voter authorization of supplemental district spending to cover the fee.

Procedural and timing details

- The additional fee would take effect contingently on 07/01/2028, aligned with the foundation-formula transition and only if the 45a study supports a secondary-weight differential and the legislature has not enacted a secondary student weight. - The State Board must adopt rules governing the approval process for a receiving school to charge the additional fee on or before 07/01/2027. - The draft requires that a receiving school that charges a fee must demonstrate the fee is necessary to educate the specific students and that the fee will be used for those students and not shifted elsewhere in the school’s budget.

Quotes

“We have joined you at 25%,” Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Council, said while summarizing the conference draft’s enrollment threshold provision.

Clarifying details noted in committee

- The 25% threshold in the house counterproposal is tied to the receiving school's total enrollment, not to a share of all Vermont students, which staff said the conferees preferred as a representation of independent schools that operate in place of a public school. - The supplemental fee is described as the product of the base amount and up to 0.05 (5%) for each student in grades 9–12, contingent on State Board approval and voter-supported supplemental district spending.

Ending: Conferees asked staff to ensure cross-references and transition language are consistent across the tuition and foundation-formula sections; staff flagged that some editorial fixes remain before a final conference report is printed.