Schools in Barre start the year without a district budget

As kids across the city of Barre and Barre town returned to class this week, their school district spanning the two municipalities still doesn’t have a voter approved budget. 

Voters in the district shot down two proposed budgets this spring — first in March, then again in May — leaving the Barre Unified Union School District as the only district in the state without a budget.

Now, voters are set to decide on Sept. 15 if they will approve a tighter spending plan for this year. 

At the heart of the budget rejections is the fact that school spending in the district is set to impact each municipality differently this year. In the city of Barre, residents are looking at a 25-27% decrease in property tax rates, while residents of Barre town are looking at property tax increases dependent on the town’s school spending, according to Garrett Grant, the board’s chair. 

About 61% of voters who rejected the district’s budget in May were from Barre town, data shows. 

The district similarly started the school year without a budget in 2024 before voters later approved a spending plan on their fourth attempt. Passing a school budget is a perennial challenge in the district, according to Grant, who said the struggle predates his five years living in the city. 

And after that rejection, the school’s board decided to cut the budget even more. 

The board’s new proposed $57.1 million budget increases district spending by 2.1% compared to last year. It cuts $350,000 in district costs compared to the budget rejected in May. 

As long as the district lacks a voter approved budget, it has to take out a line of credit to keep its doors open, according to Superintendent Emilie Knisley. Districts without an approved spending plan are allowed to spend up to 87% of their previous year’s budget, but the district also has to pay additional interest payments to a local bank, Knisley said. 

Those interest payments could cost up to $22,000 each month, according to Knisley. 

“If we can’t come to some sort of agreement on what spending should be and get a budget passed, it becomes more and more expensive,” she said. 

Grant said he thinks the controversy over school spending is fueled in part by Vermonters’ growing concerns over affordability. And school spending gives people a rare opportunity to have a say over their costs of living, he said. 

“I didn’t get a vote for gas prices to go up. I didn’t get a vote for my utility bills and my groceries to go up. But you do get a vote on the school budget,” Grant said. 

Plus, Gov. Phil Scott, who has fiercely advocated for cutting education costs, is from Barre. “People listen to him in Barre,” Grant said, referring to the governor. 

Grant also attributed the budget failures to misinformation about how the district calculates its spending. 

There’s a false idea that the school board hasn’t gone through its budget line by line, he said, and is accounting for “phantom” students. 

Every time the board has slimmed down its budget this year ahead of a vote, it’s had to make cuts to existing programs or personnel, Grant said. So far, it’s nixed the district’s summer school program, it’s decided not to fill vacant teaching positions and it combined some resources between schools. 

Even before those efforts to cut costs, the district spends less per student than surrounding districts Paine Mountain and Montpelier, according to Knisley. 

The debate in town has been divisive at times, Knisley said, and has left those on both sides of the debate feeling frustrated. 

Grant said he’s optimistic the district might pass its budget next month and is trying to encourage more residents to vote. The district is hosting an informational meeting on Sept. 8 in the library of Spaulding High School. 

If the budget doesn’t pass next month, Grant said the district will have to look at cutting spending on transportation, athletics and extracurricular activities. 

“That’s not what I want. I don’t think that’s what the board wants. I don’t think that’s what our admin wants, but that’s kind of the reality we’re in right now,” he said.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Schools in Barre start the year without a district budget.