Vermont Business Magazine On July 10, the Rural School Community Alliance (RSCA) released a statement saying it is cautiously hopeful with the news of appointments of members to the Redistricting Task Force established under H.454 (now designated Act 73). The Alliance has expressed concerns about the necessity of authentically representing the state’s rural communities throughout the process of the legislation’s development.
According to the RSCA Steering Committee, “Among the appointees to the new task force are experienced and highly qualified educators as well as legislators with direct leadership experience serving Vermont’s rural communities. While not all appointees have these qualifications, we believe inclusion of these appointees indicates acknowledgement of the need to represent and serve all of Vermont’s children, communities, and taxpayers throughout the state.”
Some of the appointees have seen and understand the benefits of place-based, high-quality community schools that exist within the collaborative supervisory union governance model that works effectively in Vermont’s rural areas. Supervisory unions are an essential part of any redistricting model in order to maintain democratically representative rural schools in Vermont. The alternative is merged school districts that dissolve local school boards, de- stabilize local economies by closing community-based schools and require busing of students over long distances to schools in the new merged districts, sometimes for many hours a day. Such outcomes would be inequitable, unfair, and unlikely to produce either cost savings or improved education.
The first meeting of the Task Force will be called by Governor Scott’s appointee, David Wolk, on or before August 1, 2025, with district proposals due to the legislature on December 1, 2025.
The other 10 appointees include:
The Speaker of the House’s appointees:
- Rep. Edye Graning (D - Chittenden 3) as one of three members of the House
- Rep. Rebecca Holcombe (D - Windsor Orange 2) as one of three members of the House
- Rep. Beth Quimby (R - Caledonia 2) as one of three members of the House
- Dr. Jay Badams, as a former superintendent
- Kim Gleason, as a former school board member
The Senate Committee on Committees appointees:
- Dr. Jennifer Botzojorns, retired superintendent for the Kingdom East School District
- Chris Locarno, retired director of finance and facilities for the Central Vermont Supervisory Union
- Senator Scott Beck (R-Caledonia)
- Senator Martine Gulick (D-Chittenden Central)
- Senator Wendy Harrison (D-Windham)
To read the full text of H.454 (Act 73) of 2025 or learn more about the legislation, please visit https://legislature.vermont.gov.
The Redistricting Task Force is scheduled to deliver a report to the Vermont legislature by no later than December 1, 2025. The RSCA will continue to advocate for Vermont-specific evidence as an essential requirement to inform, support and provide justification for Task Force recommendations. There must be Vermont-based and relevant data to demonstrate that cost savings will be achieved and educational quality will be improved in equitable and practical ways if their recommendations are to be implemented.
About the Vermont Rural School Community Alliance
The Vermont Rural School Community Alliance is a coalition of educators, parents, and community members dedicated to advocating for equitable, high-quality public education in Vermont. School boards, select boards, parents and other groups in 100 Vermont towns have joined the Alliance. The RSCA’s work is informed by direct experience in Vermont schools and leading research in rural education.