CVSD Passes $107 Million Budget
As expected, finally vote is unanimous on a budget that is five percent higher than last year. Tax implications won't be known until spring.
(Video provided as a courtesy by Media Factory.)
The Record Staff
In the end it only took a few minutes for the CVSD school board to pass a $107 million FY2027 budget which will be put to a vote on March 3. An informational meeting will be held March 2 for the public to attend.
“It feels like we are moving this quickly,” board chair Meaghan Metzler said at the Jan. 20 meeting, “but we’ve been talking about this [budget] since September. So this meeting is really the culmination of however many meetings we’ve had and I think a lot of thoughtful discussion. … We certainly did not take this lightly.”
“We have been working on this budget for a very long time,” said vice-chair Dave Connery of Shelburne. “I think it’s a delicate balance, the weight that it puts upon our taxpayers. But after two years, $9 million in cuts and 82 full-time equivalent [positions eliminated] I believe this is the right budget for this time.”
Connery was referring to cuts made in 2024 when that year’s budget – FY2025 was defeated by voters. After the cuts, the new budget was passed.
It will now be up to the voters on March 3 (with early and absentee voting that begins in mid-February) in the district’s five towns: Hinesburg, St. George, Williston, Shelburne and Charlotte.
For an in-depth story about the CVSD FY2027 budget, click here.
There are several figures to keep in mind:
The budget represents a spending increase of five percent. However it is too early to tell what the actual impact the budget will have on tax rates. First, all the state’s school budgets have to be passed and totaled to see how the state’s education fund will be distributed. Then it will be up to the governor and the Legislature as to whether an additional ‘buy-down’ expenditure will be approved to bring down the rates. In last week’s budget address, Gov. Phil Scott allocated from $75 million to $110 million for this purpose.
When figured on a per-pupil basis, the actual increase is 2.7 percent, which is low in comparison to other school districts.
The bulk of the increase is a result of a 5.5 percent increase in negotiated staff and teacher salaries and a seven percent increase in healthcare premiums.
The board passed the budge unanimously.
In other school board action
Opposition to artificial turf field
Four people spoke in opposition to the proposal to privately fund artificial turf fields at CVU. In November, Healthy Living co-owner Eli Lesser-Goldsmith proposed raising $5.5 million to fund a new artificial turf field, arguing that the field he had in mind was safe.
Others have disagreed. Three people spoke about the dangers of micro plastics both in terms of athletes’ health and the environment, particularly the potential for contamination with water runoff.
Andrea Morgante of Hinesburg also argued that this should be an open process and she objected to private funds being used to fund projects at the school that ultimately remove the public’s choice for how money should be spent at schools.
The board and Superintendent Adam Bunting have expressed informal support for the concept of a privately funded athletic field, noting the number of practices and games that are postponed because of soggy fields.
Federal investigation
Bunting also discussed the pending investigation of the district by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. A complaint was filed, the department said in a press release, that CVSD had violated Title XI, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding.
The district was given no advance notice, nor any details of the complaint, Bunting said, but understands that it centers on the district’s policy of allowing transgender and gender non-conforming students to participate in all school activities, including athletics. This policy, adopted in 2023 and revised in 2025, conforms to Vermont law.
Seventeen other educational organizations around the country – all but one in states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election – are being investigated.
Bunting said that the district will be transparent and will cooperate but noted that thousands of documents in response to the investigation must be delivered to the federal agency by Feb. 12.
The primary concern, Bunting reiterated, is student safety and protection, particularly in making sure that no students are identified or targeted.
Solid decision after extensive deliberation. The 2.7% per-pupil increase shows real restraint given healthcare and salary pressures, especially after those harsh 2024 cuts. Transparency about not knowing tax implications until spring is refreshing instead of making promises that can't be kept. Worked on similiar budget tradeoffs in corporate settings where immediate costs had to be weighed against long-term capability. Dunno if voters will agree, but there's clear matematical justification for each line item.