House Education hears update on community schools pilot; presenters warn federal funding is uncertain

House Education Committee members on April 16 heard an update on Vermont's community schools pilot under Act 67, where presenters said the model has produced promising early outcomes but faces sustainability risks as federal funding prospects shift.

Jessica Careless, who said she drafted the community schools grant while formerly at the Agency of Education and now serves as an associate professor and principal investigator with the Catamount Community Schools Collaborative at the University of Vermont, told the committee "it's not an add on. It's not a program. It's really a way of approaching schooling that is integrated and doesn't...paralyze people." Careless and other presenters outlined how the framework braids existing services into a school-centered hub to address attendance, health and family supports.

Bernice Garnett, who identified herself to the committee, emphasized the role of the research-practice partnership with UVM in evaluating implementation. "Research to inform practice, practice to inform research," Garnett said, adding that implementation science helps answer "what's working, for whom, under what conditions, and in what time frame." She said the partnership produced digital stories, site visits and a forthcoming evaluation brief, and that preliminary findings are being used to refine supports in cohort 2 schools.

Presenters summarized funding and scale: initial COVID-era federal recovery dollars funded a five-site pilot; the legislature provided roughly $1,000,000 in Act 168 split into pots for continuity; and a three-year, $1,900,000 federal earmark stewarded through the U.S. Department of Education (connected to Senator Sanders' office) will support scaling work through 2027. With state and university support the presenters said the initiative now reaches 11 supervisory unions/districts, about 38 schools and roughly 9,000 students.

Speakers described early outcome signals from participating schools. One presenter pointed to reductions in chronic absenteeism and behavior referrals: "we saw a reduction in ninth-grade absenteeism of almost 50%" in a cited example and reported a one-quarter reduction in some harassment and bullying incidents and a one-third reduction in overall behavior incidents at other sites, while cautioning multiple factors could contribute to those changes.

Presenters also reported preliminary return-on-investment work. They said an external study replicated nationally found strong multipliers for the community school coordinator role, noting a prior New Mexico study that reported an $8 return for every $1 invested; Vermont pilot analyses are ongoing and a fuller report was expected by the end of the month.

Despite the positive reports, Careless warned of federal uncertainty. She told the committee that the FY27 preliminary federal budget (the "skinny" budget) showed proposed eliminations of 21st Century Community Learning Center funding and other federal supports that have been important to afterschool and community-school activities. "This changes," she said, but added the prospect underscores the case for modest state investment and durable infrastructure to sustain gains if federal funds shift.

Committee members and local practitioners in the room offered examples of how community schools used space and partnerships to respond to local needs: intergenerational meal programs, a bike-tech program that led to a community repair business, and a week-long circus residency that one site linked to a drop in chronic absenteeism from 13.68% to 5.43% for a tracked cohort. Presenters stressed the coordinator role as the linchpin that connects schools to partners, students and families.

The presenters closed by inviting committee members to a UVM-hosted peer-sharing event on May 1 and reiterated that continued data collection and sustained investments would be needed to move from pilot to long-term implementation. The committee did not take any formal votes during the presentation.