Public Funding Q & A’s, 2025 - Vermont Commons School Skip to main content

Public Funding Q & A’s, 2025

March 28, 2025

With many changes in the education landscape taking place, from locally in the greater Burlington metropolitan area, to state-wide and national ones, you might be wondering if this is having any impact on Vermont Commons School. Read on to learn the specifics of why Vermont Commons–as a truly independent school–is insulated from what’s happening in the public school establishment:

  • Q: I understand Vermont is likely to consolidate into five school districts in the coming years and will be closing underpopulated schools. What does this mean for VCS, a small school in the state?
    • A: These consolidations and closures refer to Vermont public schools or independent schools relying on state tuition dollars (either from School Choice Town students or special education-funded students). Vermont Commons, as a Vermont “recognized school,” is a private, completely independent school, does not receive Vermont state funds of any kind, and is not subject to such consolidation or closure. Likewise we are not part of a school district, but operate privately with our own Board of Trustees.
  • Q: What do tax dollars and property taxes have to do with VCS’s budget? 
    • A: There is no correlation or connection of any kind between property taxes, public tax dollars, and VCS’s budget or funding. We receive no public funds of any kind, from South Burlington, from any surrounding town, from the State of Vermont, or from the federal government. 100% of operational funds come from tuition dollars and donations to the annual fund each year.
  • Q: The new education plan from the Agency of Education and moving through the legislature specifies that schools with students in grades 4 – 12 will be required to have classes that on average have a minimum of 25 students in them. What does this mean for VCS, where the average class size is 12?
    • A: As with the answers above, because we are a truly independent school and don’t accept state dollars of any kind, we are not beholden to these increased class size requirements. The upcoming class size increase would apply to all public schools as well as independent schools that accept state funds. Vermont Commons’s average class size will continue to be 12 students.
  • Q: What about the new move to designate a “school choice school” in each of the newly consolidated five statewide school districts? Would Vermont Commons become designated to receive publicly funded students? 
    • A: Because we are not an approved school (and intentionally abandoned the “Approved School” status we held until two years ago), we would neither seek nor be eligible to become the designated school choice school in our area. We have very few students enrolled at VCS who live in school choice districts at this time, but they could always choose to go to another school. We understand the designation of five school choice schools statewide has to do with carving out a space within the new plan for the four historic town academies that operate as independent-public hybrids so that they will be able to continue to do so and continue to receive their funding largely from State of Vermont funds. It’s being speculated that the fifth school choice school will presumably be one of the public schools already operating in the greater Burlington area, but that remains to be seen.
  • Q: With the Federal Department of Education moving towards being eliminated, with a few of its essential functions being transferred to other agencies, would this impact VCS?
    • A: The US Department of Education sends money to the State of Vermont each year to support students with learning disabilities through special education programming (IDEA Part B), at-risk students with extra learning support, multilingual students with English learning support, and teachers and administrators with professional development support (Every Student Succeeds Act, Titles I – IV). By accepting these funds from the federal government, the State of Vermont is required to provide an “equitable” (meaning numerically proportionate) share of these services–but explicitly not the funds themselves–to eligible private school students and teachers. VCS faculty are able to supplement their school-funded professional development activities with the support of this federal program. Likewise, eligible VCS students receive some direct education support through this federal program.  We continue to reach out to our liaisons in local school districts and at the state Agency of Education. While these officials continue to be uncertain about the impact of these developments, the impact on public schools and publicly funded independent schools may be simply enormous.  However, because the amount of support our teachers and students receive through these federal programs is so small, its absence does not have the potential for significant impact on our school or community. 

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Students emerge from their time at Vermont Commons School intrinsically motivated to seek out their role for improving the world, with the skills and competencies to do so.