Rural educators and a student tell Education Committee new Act 73 maps threaten small-town schools

On Feb. 13, rural educators and a student from Orleans County testified to the Education Committee that recently released maps connected with Act 73 and proposals to create larger school districts risk closing small local schools and removing town-level representation.

"There is no evidence that this type of structure has any cost savings," said Lisa Muffark, principal of Graspberries Schools, who described her district as a two-campus public pre-K–12 system with deep community ties. Muffark said her district reduced an initial budget proposal that projected a 12% increase down to a 6% increase after local review and cuts, including a 1.5 full-time-equivalent staff reduction.

Muffark told the committee the maps introduced by "House education chair Conlon," which she said delineated roughly 27 school districts, would replace supervisory-union governance with larger elected district boards. She said that approach would likely depersonalize decision-making, reduce representation for towns that host small schools and could trigger school closures or grade reconfigurations in vulnerable communities.

Muffark outlined concrete cost pressures she said are largely outside local control: family health insurance costs that have risen markedly during her five years in administration (she estimated a roughly 50% increase over that period, with a family-plan cost around $40,000), transportation bids that came in about 21% higher for next year and continuing special-education expense growth.

"Local democracy is not always efficient," Muffark said, "but it is a central component of a thriving democratic society, and it's something we do well in Vermont and we do well in Craftsberry."

Ada Allen, a sophomore at Prosper Academy and the student representative Muffark introduced, spoke in support of small, community schools and directly challenged assertions that smaller schools limit opportunity. "Smaller doesn't mean limited. It means personalized and connected," Allen said, describing access this year to AP language and AP U.S. government and plans to continue serving as a mentor in elementary classrooms.

Allen listed academic and extracurricular offerings — AP courses, dual enrollment, work-based learning, student-led clubs and shared athletics with Hazen Union — as evidence that a small high school can provide rigorous academic options and leadership opportunities.

Committee members followed with questions about which costs had risen most. Muffark reiterated health insurance and transportation as major drivers and said special-education costs (which are budgeted and allocated at the supervisory-union level) continue to rise and strain small districts. She suggested that shared-service structures such as a BOCES model could reduce some expenses, particularly for special-education placements and professional development.

Muffark also described local choice patterns: Crafts Ferry draws students from neighboring towns despite similar travel times to alternative high schools, and some towns retain local K–6 districts while offering choice for grades 7–12.

No formal vote or committee action was recorded in the testimony segment. Committee members thanked presenters and closed the session.

The Education Committee record shows speakers raising two distinct points for follow-up: (1) the fiscal and representational impacts of proposed district consolidation and the new maps tied to Act 73, and (2) a request to explore cost-saving shared-service options (for example, a BOCES model) to address rising health, transportation and special-education costs.