Op-Ed: Lamoille superintendent shares letter to Gov. Scott

November 22, 2024  |  By Ryan Heraty 

Editor’s note: The following is a letter written to Gov. Phil Scott by Lamoille South Supervisory Union Superintendent Ryan Heraty and shared with the wider community. 

Dear Governor Scott, 

Thank you for your recent communications regarding the challenges Vermont is experiencing with our education finance system. We appreciate your support to address this complex problem. As you may know, our supervisory union has been significantly impacted by the current crisis. In the Elmore Morristown district, two failed school budgets resulted in a substantial decrease in services provided to our students, including the loss of our middle school foreign language program and intervention support for children. In Stowe, our taxpayers have navigated an increase of approximately 30% in local property taxes. Many have expressed the hardship this is placing on their families. According to the most recent  Agency of Education data, our supervisory union is the second lowest-spending Local Education Agency in the state. It feels as though we are being penalized for years of fiscal responsibility. 

We believe in the sharing of tax dollars and that all students should have access to a high-quality education, regardless of zip code. Our schools also need extensive capital improvements and residents in all three towns are dedicating a much larger percentage of their income towards housing than others across the state. Our children have significant needs and the impact of the pandemic, mental health crisis, and opiate epidemic can be felt in each one of our buildings on a daily basis. Another round of budget failures will be devastating to our students and teacher morale. I worry deeply about the future of our towns, our schools, and our state. 

Although many are committed to redesigning our system, this will take time. There are structural changes that can be made now to avoid a repeat of last year. Without any change, it is inevitable that we will have another round of budget failures. 

We ask that you please initiate and support action around the following short-term recommendations: 

1. Establish a Reserve Fund maximum (e.g., 10% of expenditures) 

a. Immediately reduces pressure on the education fund.

b. Encourages districts to use reserve funds for capital improvements now, reducing future liabilities. 

c. Discourages districts from using Act 127 tax incentives to build a savings account to pay down future tax rates instead of lowering budgets.

2. Allow local options taxes to be used for capital improvement 

a. Reduces the pressure on the education fund as some districts will be able to fund critical repairs/renovations through their local municipality. 

b. Acknowledges the state’s decision to stop funding school construction and the burden this has placed on the education fund. 

c. Addresses the immediate safety repairs needed in many schools and the impact of PCBs. 

3. Redesign tax categories (i.e. resident, non-resident, business) 

a. Acknowledges the large purchase of properties that occurred during the pandemic by out-of-state residents. 

b. Ensures residents will pay an equal or lower tax rate than non-residents. 

c. Reduces financial pressure on renters by disconnecting the landlord tax rate from the non-resident tax rate. 

4. Remove weights from tuitioning districts 

a. The state is currently subsidizing those sending their children to private schools by lowering property tax rates with pupil weighting. 

b. The weights are designed to increase resources provided to students, not to reduce tax rates. 

5. Identify districts that have a disproportionate staff-to-student ratio 

a. This one data point is critical for identifying inefficiencies in school budgets as salaries and benefits account for nearly 80% of all expenditures. 

b. Reducing overstaffing will also address the high number of vacancies in hard-to-fill positions and an over-reliance on unlicensed educators. 

6. Increase transparency and student investments by publishing actual per-pupil financial data while categorizing areas of spending (instruction, debt, maintenance) 

a. The misrepresentation of the word “pupil” is having unintended consequences on equity across the state. For example, a district that may be spending $45,000 per pupil might have weighted spending of $12,000/pupil. The $12,000 figure is what will be written on the ballot, thus preventing taxpayers from making informed decisions regarding the value of their tax dollars. High spending in some districts results in failed budgets across the state. 

b. Transparently showing where money is allocated increases accountability with how dollars are spent, thus ensuring money is directed towards student learning. 

We appreciate you taking the time to review these suggestions and look forward to partnering with you during the upcoming legislative session. 

Sincerely, 

Ryan Heraty

Superintendent Lamoille South Supervisory Union 

Lamoille South Supervisory Union encompasses schools in Elmore, Morristown and Stowe including Peoples Academy and Stowe High School.