Senate Education Committee continues discussion of plan to consolidate districts and set $13,200 base funding

State education officials and outside consultants returned to the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 12 to continue a broad proposal that would remake the state’s K–12 governance and funding structure by replacing supervisory unions and 119 school districts with five regional districts and a new funding model built around a roughly $13,200 per-student base (FY25).

The proposal, presented by Agency of Education staff and consultants, is designed to pool resources across larger districts so central offices can provide specialized services — for example, curriculum specialists, facilities directors and additional special-education staff — that many small districts now lack. ‘‘We are proposing eliminating the supervisory union construct and moving from 119 school districts to 5 school districts,’’ said Zoe Sonder, Secretary of Education, in a recap of the proposal to the committee.

The plan would create five K–12 operating districts, each with a district office and an elected district school board; most districts would have five board members, with a recommendation to add two members in one large region (the Champlain Valley) to address scale. Officials said district central offices would be more robust than many current local offices and could provide pooled services such as early childhood supports, professional development, facility management and special-education expertise.

Why the change matters

Supporters told senators that the current ‘‘hyper-local’’ budgeting system produces wide variability in per-student funding and in available services. The proposal seeks to reduce that variability and to ‘‘ensure students with similar needs receive similar resources,’’ as presenters described it, by using an evidence-based staffing model as the starting point for a new base funding amount and by adding targeted weights for students with higher needs.

Funding and the $13,200 base

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