Vermont State Board of Education asks Legislature for consultants and counsel as limited budget constrains work

Jennifer Jack Samuelson, chair of the Vermont State Board of Education, told the House Committee on Education on Jan. 22, 2025, that the board lacks staff and legal resources needed to complete rulemaking the legislature assigned to it and is requesting a fiscal-year 2025 budget adjustment and ongoing funding to retain counsel and hire consultants.

The request matters because the state board is responsible for adopting education rules and standards that set minimum requirements for Vermont public schools; without adequate resources, the board said it cannot fully discharge statutory obligations or complete planned updates, including career and technical education rules. Samuelson said the board had about $35,000 remaining in its FY25 budget and a total FY24 appropriation of $70,708.

Samuelson described the board's statutory role and staffing limits. She said the board is made up of 11 members appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the Senate and that the secretary of education is a nonvoting member. She noted that Act 98 (2012) changed the board's relationship with the Agency of Education by elevating the commissioner to a governor-appointed secretary and moving day-to-day implementation and program oversight to the agency. "We do not direct the secretary. We don't direct the agency," Samuelson said, adding that the board retains rulemaking and certain quasi-judicial responsibilities.

The board reported a modest member stipend and sparse legal support. Samuelson said board members earn $6.25 an hour or about $50 per meeting and that the board has no dedicated legal counsel; when legal help is needed the board must put a contract out to bid, a process she said can take roughly three months. "We would like to have an attorney on retainer. We estimate that cost would be about $36,000 a year," Samuelson told the committee.

To finish current work the board detailed a near-term funding plan. Samuelson said the board would like a one-time FY25 adjustment of about $65,000 — roughly $40,000 to hire a consultant to review proposed ethnic-studies standards from the Act 1 Working Group and $25,000 to continue updates to career and technical education (CTE) rules. Separately, the board asked the legislature to consider funding to establish a counsel retainer (estimated $36,000 annually) and additional resources in FY26 and beyond to update long-unused rules.

Committee members pressed for details on amounts and timing. Samuelson acknowledged she had not proposed a specific long-term stipend for members but argued that the current compensation makes it difficult for people with diverse backgrounds to commit time-intensive board work. She said the board typically meets monthly, with a mix of in-person and hybrid meetings, and runs multiple committees to handle rule development.

The chair also said the board is supported in practice by Agency of Education staff—naming Maureen Gaitis and Suzanne Sprague for meeting logistics and minutes—but lacks staff to do broader regulatory and legal work. Samuelson said without additional funds the board could meet statutory minimums for the fiscal year but could not undertake substantive rulemaking projects it has identified.

The committee discussion closed with an invitation to submit a formal request and to coordinate with the Legislature’s fiscal office. Samuelson said the board would follow up with the committee and acknowledged the time-sensitive nature of budget adjustments for FY25.

Ending: The State Board told the committee it will submit more detailed budget language and cost estimates to the Legislature and said it hopes supplemental funds will allow it to complete rule updates and secure legal advice needed to carry out statutory duties.