Education secretary asks Senate appropriations committee for $4 million transformation package; urges two-year pause on adult education competitive grants

Secretary of Education Zoe Saunders told the Vermont Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6 she is asking the Legislature to appropriate $4,000,000 to create a short‑term transformation team and pay for contracted services to support statewide implementation of recent education legislation. She also recommended pausing a pending competitive adult education grant process and instead amending existing grant agreements for two years while the State Board of Education completes rulemaking.

Saunders said the request is intended to “ramp up our capabilities very quickly” so the agency can support district and system changes tied to recently passed bills. The package would fund five new positions and contracted services to help with operational alignment, data integration, academic support and school‑board training, she told senators.

The secretary said the overall request is for $4,000,000. That sum would cover five positions she described as a division leader (to be an existing staff member in an expanded role) plus five new specialists, along with short‑term contracted services. Saunders told the committee the positions are organized into three categories: operational effectiveness (including a business operations support specialist and a data integration support specialist); academic excellence (two positions to assist with curriculum, standards alignment and high‑quality instructional materials); and school facilities review. She said the request also includes contracted services to assist with standing up new programs and data and systems work that the agency would not expect to sustain long term.

Saunders provided a high‑level budget breakdown in committee: $1,525,000 allocated on the operational side, a similar amount identified for contracted services supporting education quality indicators, and $200,000 for school board training and support for transition work tied to district consolidation. She said each of the five staff positions was budgeted at about $150,000 per position (the testimony also shows a later figure of $158,000 per position as a budgeting estimate).

“We put forward the proposal, really thinking about it as a one‑year proposal,” Saunders said, adding her team would prefer to hire all five positions but acknowledged recruitment timelines could mean the state would need to rely on contracted services and possible carryover of funds.

Committee members pressed on implementation mechanics: hiring timelines, RFP windows for contractors, and whether the appropriation should be provided as a full $4,000,000 up front or staged across multiple years with automatic carryover. Saunders said she has been coordinating with the Secretary of Administration to seek continuity if the work extends beyond one year and that some roles could later be transitioned to district positions.

On adult education and literacy, Saunders told senators she recommends stopping the current competitive procurement and instead amending existing grant agreements for two years under the prior funding formula so the State Board of Education can undertake rulemaking in a transparent process; a competitive process could resume in fiscal year 2028. She said federal guidelines for competitive grant programs require the agency to follow the statutory and federal processes and that the secretary needs explicit legislative direction to close the competitive solicitation and amend current agreements.

Saunders also recommended keeping program oversight within the Agency of Education rather than shifting it to the Agency of Administration, citing the Agency of Education’s program expertise and the need to maintain continuity and federal accountability.

Committee members said the transformation request and the adult education recommendation are closely tied to the broader transformation package and discussed options to add the transformation language to the budget bill or to bring it into conference committee. Senators also discussed the Joint Fiscal Office review language and reporting expectations; Saunders said she did not want additional oversight that would delay implementation but understood the committee’s interest in avoiding duplication of effort.

Next steps: Saunders said she shared detailed narrative and a budget spreadsheet with legislative staff and would re‑send an Excel version of the budget table. Committee members said they could consider appropriating the full $4,000,000 in the budget and work with policy committees to refine position language and oversight.