The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 16 : Education

Chapter 133 : State Funding of Public Education

Subchapter 002 : GENERAL STATE FUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

• § 4011. Education payments

  [Subsection (a) effective until contingency met; see also subsection (a) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met, set out below.]

  (a) Annually, the General Assembly shall appropriate funds to pay for statewide education spending and a portion of a base education amount for each adult education and secondary credential program student.

  [Subsection (a) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met; see also subsection (a) effective until contingency met, set out above.]

  (a) Annually, the General Assembly shall appropriate funds to pay for each school district’s educational opportunity payment and supplemental district spending, as defined in 32 V.S.A. § 5401, the small schools and sparsity support grants under section 4019 of this chapter, and a portion of a categorical base amount for each adult education and secondary credential program student.

  [Subsection (b) effective until contingency met; see also subsection (b) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met, set out below.]

  (b) For each fiscal year, the base education amount shall be $6,800.00, increased by the most recent New England Economic Project Cumulative Price Index, as of November 15, for state and local government purchases of goods and services from fiscal year 2005 through the fiscal year for which the amount is being determined, plus an additional one-tenth of one percent.

  [Subsection (b) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met; see also subsection (b) effective until contingency met, set out above.]

  (b) For each fiscal year, the categorical base amount shall be $6,800.00, which shall be adjusted for inflation annually on or before November 15 by the Secretary of Education. As used in this subsection, “adjusted for inflation” means adjusting the categorical base dollar amount by the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) implicit price deflator for state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, from fiscal year 2005 through the fiscal year for which the amount is being determined, and rounding upward to the nearest whole dollar amount.

  [Subsection (c) effective until contingency met; see also subsection (c) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met, set out below.]

  (c) Annually, each school district shall receive an education spending payment for support of education costs. An unorganized town or gore shall receive an amount equal to its per pupil education spending for that year for each student. No district shall receive more than its education spending amount.

  [Subsection (c) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met; see also subsection (c) effective until contingency met, set out above.]

  (c) Annually, each school district shall receive for support of education costs its educational opportunity payment determined pursuant to subsection 4010(f) of this chapter and a dollar amount equal to its supplemental district spending, if applicable to that school district, as defined in 32 V.S.A. § 5401.

  (d) [Repealed.]

  (e) [Repealed.]

  [Subsection (f) effective until contingency met; see also subsection (f) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met, set out below.]

  (f) Annually, the Secretary shall pay to a local adult education and literacy provider, as defined in section 942 of this title, that provides an adult education and secondary credential program an amount equal to 26 percent of the base education amount for each student who completes the diagnostic portions of the adult education and secondary credential program, based on an average of the previous two completed fiscal years. Forty percent of the payment required under this subsection shall be from State funds appropriated from the Education Fund and 60 percent of the payment required under this subsection shall be from State funds appropriated from the General Fund.

  [Subsection (f) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met; see also subsection (f) effective until contingency met, set out above.]

  (f) Annually, the Secretary shall pay to a local adult education and literacy provider, as defined in section 942 of this title, that provides an adult education and secondary credential program an amount equal to 26 percent of the categorical base amount for each student who completes the diagnostic portions of the adult education and secondary credential program, based on an average of the previous two completed fiscal years. Forty percent of the payment required under this subsection shall be from State funds appropriated from the Education Fund and 60 percent of the payment required under this subsection shall be from State funds appropriated from the General Fund.

  (g) The Secretary shall pay to a school district a percentage of the base education amount for each resident student for whom the district is paying a technical tuition to a regional career technical center but who is not enrolled in the district and therefore not counted in the average daily membership of the district. The percentage of the base education amount to be paid shall be the percentage of the student’s full-time equivalent attendance at the career technical center multiplied by 87 percent.

  (h) The Secretary shall make all payments required by subchapter 5 of chapter 23 of this title.

  [Subsection (i) effective until contingency met; see also subsection (i) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met, set out below.]

  (i) Annually, on or before October 1, the Secretary shall send to school boards for inclusion in town reports and publish on the Agency website the following information:

  (1) the statewide average district per pupil education spending for the current fiscal year; and

  (2) a statewide comparison of student-teacher ratios among schools that are similar in number of students and number of grades.

  [Subsection (i) effective July 1, 2028 if contingency met; see also subsection (i) effective until contingency met, set out above.]

  (i) Annually, on or before October 1, the Secretary shall send to school boards for inclusion in town reports and publish on the Agency website a statewide comparison of student-teacher ratios among schools that are similar in number of students and number of grades. (Added 1997, No. 60, § 18, eff. July 1, 1998; amended 1997, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 90, 117a, eff. March 11, 1998; 1999, No. 49, § 197; 1999, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 10, 2000; 2001, No. 8, § 16; 2001, No. 63, § 170b; 2003, No. 36, §§ 21, 22; 2003, No. 66, § 187b; 2003, No. 68, § 16, eff. June 18, 2003; 2003, No. 76 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. Feb. 17, 2004; 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 174; 2003, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2005, No. 54, § 16; 2005, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 66, § 9; 2009, No. 4, § 81, eff. April 24, 2009; 2009, No. 44, § 17, eff. May 21, 2009; 2013, No. 77, § 8; 2017, No. 49, § 29, eff. May 23, 2017; 2021, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.), § 25, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § E.504.4, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 27, § E.504.2, eff. July 1, 2025; 2025, No. 73, § 36, contingently eff. July 1, 2028.)