Senate Education Committee urged to sustain Vermont community schools after federal grants

Jessica Carrolls, division director of student pathways at the Agency of Education, and Bernice Gurnett, faculty in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont, told the Senate Education Committee on April 15 that Vermont's community schools program has shown local results but needs predictable state support to remain viable.

Carrolls said the state has "invested $1,000,000 of state education costs" this year to extend and develop community schools and to support coordinators who link schools with community services. She and Gurnett described Act 67 (the Community Schools Act, passed February 2021), the initial ARPA/ESSER grant awards and a pilot cohort of community schools that together have formed a community of practice across the state.

The witnesses told senators the program began with a three-year ARPA/ESSER grant and six applications in 2021, with five awards made that year. Carrolls said the Agency of Education later added a $1 million annual state appropriation to continue grants and new development. That funding, she said, covers a…