Barre Unified Union School District board approves 4.95% budget increase after hours of debate

The Barre Unified Union School District #97 board voted to approve a 4.95% budget increase for the 2025–26 fiscal year and to use $1,000,000 from district reserves to reduce the tax impact. The measure passed after public comment and extended board debate on tax yields, state funding formulas and program reductions.

The vote matters because it sets the district's spending level ahead of an Australian-ballot vote warned for March 4, 2025. Board members and community speakers framed the decision around competing priorities: limiting tax burdens for residents and maintaining staff and services for students.

Board members opened the public discussion with a period of public comment in which parents, teachers and other residents voiced opposing views. Rachel Dan Bleed, a special educator and union president, urged the board to avoid cuts, saying schools need resources to support students with complex needs. Several other teachers and parents described measurable student improvements and appealed to the board to invest in staff and programs. Other community members urged lower increases, citing affordability, rising household costs and concern that higher nonresidential rates will shift costs to renters and small businesses.

During board discussion members emphasized two technical drivers behind local tax impacts: the state's new education funding formulas…