Vermont Business Magazine June 2, 2026. The Rural School Community Alliance (RSCA) commends the Vermont legislature’s bipartisan support for local democracy and voluntary school district mergers with its passage of H.955. The RSCA has advocated for this result for the past 18 months: no forced mergers, and let the people decide by a vote of the electorate whether or not to merge into larger school districts. H.955 is a dramatically different result than was initially proposed. The legislature, and the Governor, ultimately listened to the thousands of voices of rural Vermonters who provided Vermont-specific evidence that forced mergers would not save taxpayers’ money, would undermine the vitality of Vermont’s rural towns, and would do a disservice to Vermont’s school-aged children.
While the RSCA supports the intent of H.955, serious concerns remain. For example, the requirement for every school district in the state to participate in merger committees will be time-consuming. It is essential that skilled and neutral facilitators be hired to assist in the study process. Further, the merger committees are to be established concurrent with establishing cooperative educational service areas (CESAs) throughout the state. It is those CESAs that can immediately produce cost-savings, and yet there is significant risk that their effectiveness will be delayed while the study process takes place.
Despite strong evidence to the contrary, there is still an underlying assumption that larger school districts will bring both financial and educational benefits. There are checkpoints along the way in the implementation of the law whereby the legislature may make adjustments, particularly if the intended cost savings and improved opportunities for Vermont’s school children and youth are not achieved.
The RSCA will continue to stay actively engaged in the implementation of this law. RSCA’s focus will be on Vermont-specific evidence that these changes actually provide quality education for students and cost effectiveness for taxpayers while maintaining and enhancing the vitality of Vermont’s rural public schools and the communities that support them.
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, and other groups in more than 100 Vermont towns and villages have joined the Alliance. The RSCA’s work is informed by direct experience in Vermont schools and leading research in rural education. www.vtruralschools.org
June 2.2026
To support vital journalism, access our archives and get unique features like our award-winning profiles, Book of Lists & Business-to-Business Directory, subscribe HERE!
Vermont Business Magazine