‘A perfect mess’: School construction needs may fall by the wayside in a chaotic budget year

By Habib Sabet and Ethan Weinstein

Many of Vermont’s school boards are tabling bond votes this year in light of skyrocketing annual operating costs and uncertainty surrounding the state’s plans for future construction assistance.

….State economists deemed continued and increasing construction aid untenable, a stance reinforced amid the Great Recession. 

But even without state aid, a few districts are still moving forward, taking their chances because they feel they have no choice. In some locations, school leaders believe that major work can simply no longer be deferred.  

One of them is Mountain Views Supervisory Union — composed of Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading and Woodstock. That district ranked second worst in the state’s recently completed facilities assessment. In March, voters are expected to decide whether to approve a $99 million bond to fund the construction of a new school.

“We absolutely can’t afford to wait,” Ben Ford, a Mountain Views board member who’s leading the school bond campaign, said in an interview, citing ever-growing construction costs. “We’re not doing our students or our taxpayers any favors by continuing to wait.”