CVSD Chair Makes Case for Budget
District's $107 million FY2027 budget was determined after five months of careful discussion and scrutiny by the administration and board.
By Meghan Metzler
For The Hinesburg Record
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Champlain Valley School District school board unanimously approved a $107.9 million budget to be presented to voters on Town Meeting Day.
In many ways, that moment felt anticlimactic. We’ve spent nearly five months building this budget. We’ve done so against the backdrop of intense political debate about public education – both locally and nationally – and the indisputable reality that more and more is being asked of our public schools and, therefore, of property taxpayers who support this system.
But behind that Tuesday evening vote was an enormous amount of careful work, difficult tradeoffs and deep reflection.
Over the past two years, we have removed more than $9 million in spending from our budget, including cutting over 82 full-time equivalent positions and making significant reductions in operational costs.
As a parent of two CVSD students, I see what those cuts look like in the day-to-day life of our schools – classes they wanted to take that are no longer offered, fewer adults available to support them and their peers. As chair of the board, I hear directly from administrators, educators, students, and families about what these changes mean in classrooms and hallways across our district. And as a taxpayer, I know – and feel – how much more I pay in property taxes than when I moved into my home 13 years ago.
All of those perspectives were in play as we worked through this year’s budget.
Our board asked the administration to build what we called a “level-ish service” budget: one that would preserve the core educational experience our students rely on, while still pushing to find every responsible efficiency possible. They did exactly that.
The budget before voters reflects a five percent increase in overall education spending compared to FY2026, even as contractual obligations and health care costs alone grew by more than that. On a per-pupil basis – the measure that ultimately drives property tax rates – the increase is just 2.7 percent. For the past three years, this figure has been less than half the state average.
Those numbers matter. But so do the people behind them.
Despite careful planning and restraint in our budget – and following last year’s four percent decrease in education property tax rates across CVSD – the structure of Vermont’s education finance system means property taxes are still projected to increase this year. Without legislative action, the average increase across our five towns is estimated at 11 percent. If the Legislature and Governor act, as appears likely, that increase will be lower.
I know that for many households, even a modest increase feels heavy. Groceries cost more. Heating costs more. Health care costs more. These pressures are real, and they are shared.
What I hope voters also see is this: Our board did not arrive at this budget casually. We arrived at it trying to balance responsibility with care – for taxpayers, and for the children who walk into our schools every day depending on the adults around them who give these students the opportunity to learn, grow, and belong.
On Town Meeting Day, I ask you to join the board in supporting the CVSD school budget – not because it is perfect or easy, but because it is responsible, measured, and rooted in a system that is committed to the growth and belonging of all of our students.
Meghan Metzler is chair of the Champlain Valley School District School Board.