Vermont State Board of Education warns of limited budget as major rule changes near implementation

Jennifer Jack Samuelson, chair of the Vermont State Board of Education, told the Senate Education Committee on Jan. 21 that the board lacks money and legal counsel needed to complete and implement major rule updates, including the Education Quality Standards that take effect July 1, 2025.

The board presented a status update on its role since Act 98 of 2012 realigned the state’s education governance, described recent rulemaking work on the Education Quality Standards (EQS) and independent-school rules (Series 22100), and asked the committee for a combination of one-time and ongoing funding to retain counsel and staff support to finish career-and-technical-education (CTE) rule updates and to implement curricular standards tied to Act 1.

The funding shortfall matters because the EQS amendments and follow-on curricular standards — including a proposed ethnic-studies framework (the IRIS framework) and CTE rule updates — change statewide expectations for PK–12 instruction, reporting and nondiscrimination requirements. Those rules set requirements districts, supervisory unions and approved independent schools must follow, and the board said limited resources threaten timely, supported implementation.

Samuelson said the board is a citizen regulatory body created by statute and retained rulemaking authority even after the 2012 restructure that elevated the commissioner to a governor-appointed secretary. “We do not have oversight over the secretary or the agency,” Samuelson said, noting the board still adopts rules that the Agency of Education implements. She described the board as “independent” and “neutral,” with meetings warned and open to the public.

Board vice chair Tammy Colby described the recent EQS process: the board began work after recommendations from the Act 1 working group, held roughly 42 subcommittee meetings, and conducted three public hearings over an 18-month rulemaking process. The amended EQS was approved by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules on June 13, 2024, and many provisions will take effect July 1, 2025.

Samuelson and Colby told senators the board has a recurring operating line embedded in the Agency of Education’s budget that is “just over $70,000 a year,” and that money covers per diem payments, travel, advertising and recording. The board’s funds have been level-funded since 2021, and the board said inflation and increased workload mean that baseline funding no longer covers needed legal or technical support. Samuelson said the board currently has no counsel under contract and estimated that outside counsel to support major rulemaking can range “ballpark” from about $15,000 to $60,000 for a rule set, with prior similar efforts costing about $50,000.

On near-term requests, Samuelson said the board is seeking roughly $25,000 in the current fiscal year to begin work on the CTE rule update and another $25,000 in FY 2026 to continue, plus money to place legal counsel on retainer (Samuelson estimated about $36,000 annually for counsel). Committee members and board leaders discussed a range of larger figures: Samuelson said a fiscal biennial bump to about $100,000 would address FY25 concerns, and board members suggested that a recurring appropriation in the neighborhood of $200,000 a year would be sufficient to support the broader body of work the board wants to complete over several years.

Committee members asked whether some drafting and review could be done by Agency of Education counsel before the board’s formal rulemaking, and board members said that has been and will be the plan for the CTE rules: the agency will provide an initial draft, reviewed by agency counsel, and the board will then take that draft through its public-rule process, public comment and any additional legal review. Samuelson also said the board relies on the agency for administrative support (meeting platforms, posting agendas, minutes and web posting) but must maintain independent counsel for matters where the board’s legal standing differs from the agency’s.

The board leaders outlined the next steps for implementation: finalize curricular standards tied to the EQS (including the proposed Vermont State Ethnic Studies/IRIS framework), align independent-school rules (Series 22100) and complete CTE rule updates. They emphasized the implementation phase will require professional development, new reporting and data disaggregation at the district level, and technical support for teachers and districts.

The committee did not vote on any appropriation or motion during the hearing. Senators present encouraged the board to submit a clear, itemized request and offered to help the board navigate the budget process. Samuelson said the board will follow up with written details for the committee.