School District 2023 Budget

To the Editor:

I am writing to request your support of the Springfield School District FY2025 budget. The school board and administration spent several meetings reviewing the capital and operating budgets, asking questions, having discussions and unanimously approving the school budget sent to voters.

This year, Vermont changed the state educational finance law, which further complicated the budget process. The statewide employee health care costs also rose 16% since the last budget cycle. Both of these issues are controlled at the state level and not locally. Springfield students and residents still benefit greatly from the educational finance law. Thirty million dollars of the $39 million budget comes from the state education fund. This equates to an additional $3.72 for every $1 of revenue raised locally. Approximately $8,647,168 of the $39,839,625 will be raised through local revenue. This is lower than the $15,009,263 town budget that is all raised through local revenue.

Each year there are two competing questions we have as a school board. How do we not overburden tax payers with an increasing budget while simultaneously trying to improve the educational outcome for the students? The district is focused on developing a guaranteed viable curriculum that will establish the foundation for education improvement. The administration and board uses data-driven analysis to inform decisions on both funding and staffing to make the best use of our tax dollars. The greatest potential for the future of our community lies with the education of our students. These students will be our future leaders, business owners, and, more importantly, community members.

This past year we ended with a surplus that we are asking voters to contribute to a capital expenditure account and a tax reserve fund. This surplus will be applied to this budget to lower the local school tax rate and can be used this year if approved. This reserve keeps the funds local and offers the ability to reduce the tax rate this spring when all of the educational finance factors are determined.

I ask that you consider voting yes for the school budget to enable the district to give students the education that they deserve. Please reach out to any board member with questions about the budget, we are here to support the community members. All of our contact information is listed on the district website. If we do not have the answer to your question we will get back to you with the information. Please ask questions. An informed vote is the best vote.

Troy Palmer

School Board Director

Springfield, VT