Vermont education officials outline plan to cut 119 districts to five, add school advisory councils and statewide choice schools

Zoe Saunders, Secretary of Education, told the House Committee on Education on Feb. 6 that the administration’s governance proposal for Gov. Scott’s education transformation would eliminate the current supervisory-union structure and move the state from 119 school districts to five regional districts to increase scale, equity and specialized capacity.

The proposal, Saunders said, would replace dozens of local central offices with five larger district central offices that could hire specialists in curriculum, pre-K, facilities, special education and professional development and that would be governed by elected part-time boards. “So today we’re pleased to share more information around the governance component of the governor’s plan,” Saunders said in opening testimony. Jill Bridal Campbell, interim deputy secretary, described the plan’s use of an Education Services Agency (often referred to in testimony as a BOCES) to deliver services at scale and to increase coherence and equitable delivery of supports such as special education and career and technical education.

Why it matters: presenters said the changes are intended to address what they described as a fragmented, top-heavy system whose small, local districts lack scale and consistent access to specialized staff and programs. Saunders said the state’s funding picture and persistent enrollment declines have left some high-needs communities dependent on federal funds and without similar access to courses and services…