The Senate Education Committee met on Tuesday to discuss civil rights violations in public schools. Chairman Campion introduced Emily Simmons (General Counsel, Agency of Education), saying that he had been reading a lot in the news about public school and that they were attempting to understand what happens when the federal government gets involved and settles agreements, etc. He was also interested in whether the Agency of Education (AOE) participated in investigating or adjudicating these.

On Tuesday, C.J. Spirito, Head of School at Rock Point School in Burlington joined the Senate Education Committee to talk about H.483.

Rock Point is a small independent school with students ranging from “high-flying, college-bound students to kids in the hospital because they can't function or are not getting to school.” They are not competing with public schools or larger schools for students, he noted.

On Tuesday, Jessica Barquist (Director of Policy and Organizing, Vermont Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence) introduced a draft amendment for the Senate Education Committee to look at on bullying and harassment, which was opposed by major groups like NEA.

H.483 is a bill designed to add regulatory hurdles that will make it more difficult for publicly-tuitioned students to access Vermont’s Independent Schools. This bill is unnecessary and unkind. A majority of this committee seems sympathetic to the independent schools and Vermont students, but they need to hear from YOU to counter the pressure coming from the public school special interests.

Please CALL or EMAIL them TODAY.

On Friday, Oliver Olsen (Former Chair, State Board of Education) joined the Senate Education Committee to speak on H.483 as a parent, former legislator, and community member from Southern Vermont. During his tenure, he oversaw the “significant effort” of updating the rules governing the approval of independent schools.

The Senate Education Committee came back to H.461 on Thursday to review a strike-all amendment that Legislative Counsel had prepared.

On Thursday, the Senate Education Committee heard from Heather Bouchey (Interim Secretary, Agency of Education) and Chris Kane (Interim State Director of Special Education, Agency of Education) on H.483. Bouchey stressed the nature of public process and 2200 rulemaking stakeholder engagement. She believed this needed to be “implemented and experienced” as independent schools engage with that newly developed process.

Chairman Campion welcomed Jay Badams (Superintendent, Norwich/Hanover Interstate School District ) to the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, saying they wanted to know about the “whether there is ever any admissions process in our public schools.” He described H.483 as asking for “a kind of open enrollment where public dollars follow kids to whatever school they want.” He added that he thinks that is happening now in a lot of schools.

The Senate Education Committee reviewed H.461 on Tuesday with Legislative Counsel, specifically looking at the new language surrounding harassment.

Legislative Counsel reviewed the definition of bullying used in statute versus the new draft language. The statute currently requires proof that discriminatory behavior meets the “severe or pervasive standard,” while the new draft just requires proof that someone has been subject to discriminatory harassment.

On Thursday, Sue Ceglowski (Executive Director, Vermont School Boards Association) spoke to the House Education Committee. She noted that she was testifying on behalf of the Education Equity Alliance, which consists of Vermont School Boards Association, Vermont NEA, Vermont Superintendents Association, and Vermont Principles Association. She claimed “Vermont is at a crossroads” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s new rules for states’ funding private schools. This puts Vermont in a difficult position as it seeks to comply with the Court's ruling, she noted, while “still upholding its own constitutional protections, democratic values and traditions.”