Committee reviews bill to make 'Seesaws' the statutory regional service areas, require study committees and set multi-year timeline

The Ways & Means Committee on April 2 heard a line-by-line walkthrough of legislation that would rename existing boards of cooperative educational services ("Boseies") to cooperative educational service areas, or "Seesaws," and would create those Seesaws by statute while assigning supervisory unions to regional Seesaw memberships.

Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel, told the committee the draft makes the change in statutory structure explicit — "a Seesaw shall be a body politic and corporate with the powers and duties afforded it under this chapter" — and shifts formation from a voluntary to a statutorily mandated process. She said the bill also directs the Vermont Learning Collaborative (the only existing Bosei) to hire facilitators and oversee study committees that will assess whether groups of school districts should form unified union school districts.

Why it matters: The bill would centralize and standardize regional program delivery by requiring Seesaws in statute, mandate that every school district participate in locally convened study committees, and create a sequence of deadlines and state-funded supports intended to accelerate district consolidation studies and potential votes on new unified union school districts.

Key points and details

• Name, structure and statutory change: The draft replaces references to "Boseies" with "Seesaws," defines a Seesaw as an association of supervisory unions, and places Seesaw membership and bylaws into statute rather than…