Barre schools eye cuts to sports and other activities after budget fails on third attempt

BARRE — Board members in the Barre Unified Union School District will look at making cuts to winter sports, school transportation and extracurricular activities after voters rejected the district’s annual budget for the third time Tuesday. 

“It’s definitely a heartbreaking result because ultimately all cuts are going to affect students,” said Garrett Grant, chair of the school board.

For the second time in three years Barre remains the last district in Vermont without a voter-approved budget, even as it ranks among the lowest-spending districts in the state. This year’s budget saga resembles the district’s struggle in 2024, when it took four attempts to break the deadlock. The recent rejection splits the merged district along municipal lines, with Barre Town casting most of the no votes. 

The rejection is likely costly for the district. It expects to spend up to $22,000 in monthly interest payments as it has to take out a line of credit to keep schools running. 

Up for vote was a $57.1 million annual spending plan, which was the lowest budget figure the district’s voters have seen on the ballot so far this year. Voters rejected a $57.8 million budget in March and a $57.5 million budget in May.

The latest proposal was rejected by 52.6% of voters in the district, while 47.3% approved, according to clerks in the district’s municipalities. 

In the district that spans both Barre Town and the city of Barre, the majority of voters who said no to the budget — about 65% — came from Barre Town. 

Michael Carr, who showed up to vote at the Barre Municipal Auditorium, said he voted “hard no” on the district’s budget — and he didn’t mince words explaining why. 

“Taxes are ridiculous,” said Carr, who anticipates his taxes will rise this year. 

Carr, who doesn’t have kids enrolled in the district, said he thinks taxes have gotten out of control. He worries that high costs will remain the norm if voters approve the school budget. He said he thinks administrators and board members need to get more serious about cutting costs. 

Carr’s vote was in the minority in the city of Barre. The majority of voters there were in favor of the budget, 628-526, according to the city clerk. 

Julie Swift, who went to vote at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School, said she approved the district’s budget proposal Tuesday. 

“I just feel that going back to the drawing board and cutting more isn’t what’s best for our kids,” Swift said. 

Swift said she suspects her property taxes will go up. Still, she said she wanted to support the students in the school system, which her kids used to attend. 

Swift was also in the minority of voters in her community. Most voters in Barre Town opposed the budget proposal, 993-773, according to the town clerk. 

Barre is already among the lowest-spending districts in the state, according to Grant, and has historically been a low spender. The budget that voters rejected Tuesday proposed spending 2.1% more than in the previous school year, a rate lower than inflation. 

Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference earlier this month that he was hopeful Barre would pass its budget. Grant previously told VTDigger late last month that Scott, a proponent of cutting school spending statewide, has strong influence over voters in his hometown. 

As for Carr’s concerns, Grant said he’s heard similar comments before. He said there’s a common misconception that board members haven’t gone line by line through the district’s budget, which is already $700,000 less than the first version that voters rejected in March. 

Grant also said he thinks that disagreement over the district’s budget is fueled by how complicated the state’s education funding model is. People in Barre can’t agree on the same set of facts, Grant said, because the state’s funding model is so convoluted that people often end up comparing apples to oranges and making incorrect claims about the school board. 

As long as the district lacks a voter-approved budget, it has to take out a line of credit to keep its doors open, Superintendent Emilie Knisley previously told VTDigger. 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 open a line of credit with a local bank, meaning it has to make interest payments, Knisley said.

Grant said the district’s school board will meet next week to discuss when it might hold a fourth budget vote. In the meantime, he said, he’s trying to educate people in town to combat rumors and misinformation. 

“I’ve joked before that it’s kind of like playing whack-a-mole. You debunk one thing and another comes back up.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Barre schools eye cuts to sports and other activities after budget fails on third attempt.