Education in Vermont

Education in Vermont consists of public and private schools including the University of Vermont, the Vermont State Colleges, private colleges, and secondary and primary schools in the U.S. state of Vermont.

The Vermont State Board of Education or VSBE, is appointed by the governor with approval by the senate. It administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective school districts operate individual public schools but the VSBE audits performance of public schools. The VSBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.

Vermont’s compulsory attendance statute requires parents or guardians to cause their children between the ages of 6 and 16 to attend a public school, an independent school (private schools), or a home study program (homeschooling). Public and independent schools are commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school and high school. School districts are often complex in structure. In some cases, elementary, middle and junior high schools of a single district feed into high schools in another district or overlap with other districts at the high school level.

There are 250 public schools in Vermont. This includes 28 union high schools. Union high schools are those supported by towns with separate school districts for elementary grades.

To promote educational efficiency the state allowed towns to create a higher level school district above the level of each participating town, the union. The main function of the union school was to permit the creation of larger high schools in rural areas. Participating towns elect two school boards, one local, the second at the union level. The local union hires the principal and teachers; the union level hires a superintendent who is expected to supervise all local schools. There are more than 80 such unions in the state, out of 362 total school districts, many of whom fall under the union school districts.

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