WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Hartford could close one of its three elementary schools under plans school board members moved forward Wednesday night, though they stressed nothing is final.
The board reviewed five plans to cut the district’s budget by almost $5 million and asked administrators to take a closer look at two of them. Board members and administrators called the vote an early step in a months-long budget process.
Administrators presented Models A through E, ranging from across-the-board cuts at every school to closing four buildings. The placeholder “Model F” was left open for alternatives from the board or the public.
Staff will return with more detailed numbers on plans C and E in October, and the board can still change course after hearing from residents. The full presentation, including all five models, is available in the meeting materials folder on the school board’s website.
“These are conceptual frameworks. No one is locked into anything,” Superintendent Caty Sutton told the board.
Board member Colin Butler, a former accountant, said the exact financial picture is hard to pin down under Vermont’s school funding system. He made the motion to advance Models C and E, which passed unanimously on a voice vote.
The cuts are driven by Act 169, a state law passed last session that lowers the “excess spending threshold,” the amount a district can spend per student before the state adds a tax penalty. Hartford’s threshold drops from 118% to 115.5% of the statewide average next year, then keeps falling to 112.5% by 2032.
District projections put the total reduction at about $18.3 million over five years, assuming costs grow 5% a year. The district says those numbers are not final and will change as the state releases new figures.
In a letter to Hartford’s legislators read at the start of the meeting, the board, district leaders and the Hartford Education Association said staying under the threshold could mean cutting administration and staff by 25%, “1 in 4 of our workforce.”
If the district went over the threshold instead, its modeling shows taxes on a $300,000 home would rise from about $3,900 this year to about $4,900 next year. Voters approved the district’s current $58.7 million budget in March with 58% support, Finance Director Jacob Vezina said.
What the two plans would do
Under Model C, Hartford would close one elementary school and run two elementary schools for preschool through fourth grade. The middle school would add fifth grade, and the high school would stay grades 9 through 12.
Model E would close one elementary school and three district office buildings: the superintendent’s office, Covell House and Tenney House. The district would have one elementary school for kindergarten through fourth grade, a combined upper elementary and middle school for grades 5 through 8, the high school, and a separate building for preschool and district offices.
Neither plan names which elementary school would close. The district’s three are Dothan Brook, Ottauquechee and White River.
Closing buildings would save money on heat, transportation and maintenance. Both plans also call for staff reductions by increasing the number of students per teacher, up to state limits, according to the presentation. The district could also bring in money by selling or leasing closed buildings, and administrators floated using available space for day care or after-school programs.
Board member Jeremy Warren said he favored closing buildings over cutting staff.
“I’d rather lose a building than our programs and our staff,” he said.
Linda Satterley, a district employee and parent, warned the board that the cuts would affect staffing as well as buildings.
“You’re not going to just save money for closing the building; you’re going to save money on salaries, and we all know that,” she said.
District data show enrollment fell from 1,456 students in 2022-23 to 1,325 this year, while staffing rose from about 264 to 289 positions. Sutton said much of that growth is in mental health and other student support roles.
It’s unclear whether closed buildings would bring in much revenue. Board members noted possible property taxes and legal limits on selling, and residents said closed schools elsewhere have sat empty.
The other options
Model A would keep all schools open and cut each one proportionally. Board members agreed not to pursue it, saying across-the-board cuts would leave the district in the same position next year, though some said it should remain in the conversation as a baseline for comparison.
Model B would shuffle grades among the existing buildings, but Sutton said it would not save enough on its own. Model D would close two elementary schools and combine the middle and high schools into a grades 7 through 12 school. Board Clerk Cathy Lemire said that could complicate future regional consolidation talks required under Act 170.
What happens next
Administrators will present details on both plans at the board’s next meeting on Oct. 14. On Nov. 18, the board expects to narrow its options with updated state numbers. It is scheduled to pick one model on Dec. 16 and present a budget on Jan. 13, ahead of Town Meeting.
Assistant Superintendent Aron Tomlinson said the state’s numbers will keep changing until January.
“What we might feel like is a really good model, literally could change in a day depending on what we get from the state,” he said.
What residents said
About a dozen people spoke, including several teachers and staff.
Nichole Vielleux, a teacher at Dothan Brook School and president of the Hartford Education Association, the district’s teachers’ union, asked the board to protect programs and not “reduce staff beyond what is necessary to account for normal enrollment decline.” Several speakers also called for a contract for the district’s support staff, who are still negotiating.
“The taxpayers in this town are beginning to get stretched,” said Matt Marvin of Wilder, a parent with children at three of Hartford’s schools. He suggested the board consider combining parts of the different models.
Carly Lasowski of Quechee, whose two children attend Ottauquechee School, said her family moved from Michigan about a year ago for the district’s small classes.
“We chose this district because there were small classrooms where they could connect with their teachers,” she said.
State Sen. Joe Major, who represents Hartford, said he “did not vote for the yield bill,” the legislation that became Act 169.
“When I hear a quarter of those people being laid off or eliminated, it’s incredibly disheartening,” he said.
Board members discussed holding a special meeting in the coming days to plan community outreach, which could include surveys and listening sessions, though they are not formally scheduled yet. Residents can email the board at schoolboard@hartfordschools.net.
