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Senate education committee hears pleas in Woodstock to preserve small schools, decouple construction costs and tax second homes
Summary
Students, teachers and residents in Woodstock urged the Vermont Senate Education Committee to protect local schools from redistricting-driven closures, decouple capital costs from per-pupil funding, and consider taxing second homeowners to help fund school construction.
WOODSTOCK, Vt. — The Vermont Senate Education Committee visited Woodstock on Nov. 18 for a listening session during which students, teachers and community members urged lawmakers not to let redistricting under Act 73 dismantle local school programs and regional hubs, and asked the state to change how it pays for school buildings.
Students at Woodstock Union Middle and High School described strong community ties and warned that longer bus rides — one student said he already travels roughly 40 minutes each way — would erode extracurricular participation and belonging. "If we change anything going forward, I want to make sure that kids are able to feel a sense of belonging and want to return to Vermont," Skyler Haga, a Woodstock senior, said.
Speakers pressed senators on whether redistricting would move teachers, alter class sizes or simply be a cost-cutting measure. "There's…
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