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VTDigger

Should students have voting power on Vermonts school boards?

A Vermont bill, H.640, would require school boards that oversee high school grades to include student voting members, with one student per grade. Boards that operate middle schools would also add two nonvoting student members from grades 7 and 8.

Vermonts school enrollment is declining. Students needing special education are on the rise

Students with IEPs spend more time in general classrooms than average, yet are sent out of district at more than twice the national rate.

Vermont schools are making headway to address chronic absenteeism, but rates remain stubbornly high

Vermont schools are lowering chronic absenteeism, but about 1 in 4 students statewide are still chronically absent. State education officials want to update truancy laws to standardize definitions and focus on prevention over punishment.

Vermonts new education bill is now law. Heres what happens next.

Transformation is far from guaranteed. Lawmakers first need to agree on a new school district map before proceeding with other facets of the law.

Vermont Agency of Education walks back request that school districts report compliance with President Trumps anti-DEI directive

Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders initially asked school districts to certify compliance with a federal directive targeting DEI programs but reversed course days later after public backlash. The state will now submit a single certification while reaffirming support for DEI in schools.

Seeking an appropriate education, Vermont families battle lawyers, the Legislature and a lack of staff

The whole system is designed to not educate a certain subset of the population, said one parent of a child with autism.

Voters wrestle with supporting schools or pushing back against rising property taxes

Benefits and salaries, school construction, disappearing federal dollars and increased mental health-related needs are all contributing to rising education costs in Vermont.

A perfect mess: School construction needs may fall by the wayside in a chaotic budget year

Many of Vermonts school boards are tabling bond votes this year in light of skyrocketing annual operating costs and uncertainty surrounding the states plans for future construction assistance.

Pandemic-era high schoolers in Vermont say they are less likely to pursue higher education

The education aspirations of first-generation male students declined the most, a recent survey found. Across the board, 70% of students said they were continuing their education in the fall of 2022, a 5% drop from previous years.

In Vermont schools, conservative legal groups have become a potent force

In the shadow of a conservative U.S. Supreme Court, outside organizations have challenged state regulations on religious schools, defended school employees accused of transphobia, and stepped in to push for and against local policies and events.