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Students Tell Vermont Lawmakers to Protect DEI, Student Voice and Small Schools in H.454 Debate
Summary
At a joint House and Senate Education Committee session on April 25, more than three dozen students urged lawmakers to preserve diversity, equity and inclusion programs, ensure student representation in district decisions and reconsider parts of Bill H.454 they said would close small schools and increase class sizes.
Students from across Vermont told a joint session of the House and Senate Education Committees on April 25 that proposed changes in the state’s school structure could harm small schools, reduce student voice and undermine diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Jacoby Soter, an 11th‑grade student at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, told the committee: "Students must be seen as real agents of change." He urged lawmakers to require “student representatives as valued and voting members” of local school boards and to include young people meaningfully in policy design.
The testimony combined several recurring themes: support for local, small‑school communities and the relationships they foster; concern that Bill H.454 (the governor’s school consolidation proposal) would cut teacher positions and close small schools; calls to protect DEI programs and affinity spaces; and requests for more investments in teacher professional…
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