House Education committee focuses on district scale, class-size minimums and mapping needs

The Vermont House Committee on Education on Feb. 18 discussed next steps for proposals on district consolidation, class-size minimums and school construction, asking staff to secure mapping resources and schedule testimony from superintendents, school business managers and legislative counsel.

Committee chair said the committee would use roughly 45 minutes to plan testimony and priorities and emphasized that the group should “make some decision time” while ensuring members “are getting the information that they need.” The chair said six superintendents will appear at the next meeting as a resource on instructional scale.

Members prioritized three interrelated issues: whether to set class-size minimums and school-size or district-size targets; how to redraw district lines given mixed delivery models; and how to preserve momentum on school construction. Representative Law urged the panel to first clarify how “we recreate school districts of size that are currently in mixed delivery,” calling mixed delivery “really…