MONTPELIER- North Country Supervisory Union (NCSU) Superintendent Elaine Collins recently testified before the Vermont Senate Education Committee. The subject was the Act 73 supervisory union consolidation law enacted by the legislature in 2025. The law calls for a task force to produce three consolidation maps for the legislature to review. However, the task force instead filed a report calling for supervisory unions to work cooperatively to share resources, rather than consolidate.
Collins has worked in education for 36 years, including the past four years as superintendent. She oversees 14 towns that comprise NCSU, which range 65 miles apart, and covers 520 square miles. There are 2,630 students served by NCSU.
“In the Governor’s budget address, he spoke about the increased effects of housing insecurities, drug addiction, mental health challenges, criminal offenders, and a lack of accountability,” Collins testified. She said many of the Vermonters experiencing these issues have children who attend public schools. Those students face more challenges as a result of their living environment and bring these challenges to school.
“Do the children of these folks need more?” Collins asked rhetorically. She said they are “canaries in the coal mine,” of the state. To bring lasting, sustainable change, the environment must change as well.
“Whenever there are significant changes in a society, there are impacts on society’s children,” Collins said. “This hasn’t happened all at once, but slowly over time.”
Collins said it’s like boiling a frog alive; if you turn up the heat a little at a time, the frog won’t notice until it’s at a crisis point. Collins outlined six areas legislators should address.
-Two decades ago community resources in the Northeast Kingdom started to “dry up.” State agencies and organizations started to lose the ability to provide for the needs of children and their families. Currently NCSU has an 18-month long waiting list for family support. This includes students with significant mental health concerns that may require hospitalization. As a result, schools started to provide the necessary health care support, at a cost to the schools.
-Housing shortages have been a concern before the Covid pandemic. Earlier this year, a few of NCSU’s students were living in tents, or sheds without electricity, reliable heat, or insulation.
“It’s pretty cold out this week,” Collins said. “Imagine being a child who lives in these circumstances and shows up at school.”
The question Collins posed is this. “Is this child as ready to learn as their classmate, who isn’t worried about staying warm or being hungry?” Once again it’s the school system that steps up to provide for the student and their family.
-Food insecurity is an ongoing issue. Schools now provide universal meals, including breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner. Collins said some students get meals to take home for the weekend.
“Of course, students can’t learn if they’re hungry and morally, it is absolutely the right thing to do for our kids,” Collins stated.
-Substance abuse and addiction has increased statewide. There are limited options to treat addiction, and communities are doing their best to address the problem. Again, it’s the school system that steps up to help.
-Students struggle with safe boundaries and emotional regulation. Some with challenging histories may enter the juvenile justice system as they get older.
“The governor spoke about accountability for young juvenile offenders. More and more students require hospitalization and other restrictive environments to help keep them safe for themselves and others,” Collins said. Schools are required to provide an education for these students too. And there’s an increased cost because of the safety and security needs in these situations.
-All of the above factors contribute to students of all ages becoming increasingly dysregulated in school. NCSU sends seven students to alternative day treatment schools. Collins said the behavior issues are significant, including punching adults in the face, causing concussions, kicking, and spitting. Some young children have toileting needs, requiring the services of LNAs and other nursing staff. Behavioral interventionists, specialists, and other supports are hired to accommodate the students.
The root cause of the behavior is not school-related, but schools are mandated to address them.
Every issue Collins raised comes at a cost. It’s the school district that is paying for these health care issues at a high cost.
There are other factors that contribute to school budgets. Universal pre-K. Every elementary school has at least one preschool teacher, and many have aides. Larger schools can have three of each, contributing to the budget. Collins said the NCSU has an early childhood coordinator, a special educator, and special aides that are deployed to all of the schools. NCSU pays $4,000 per student for tuition to other non-supervisory union programs. There is no special education block grant for preschoolers with special education needs. Local budgets absorb the costs.
There are issues with dual enrollment. The legislature mandates the funding of college-level courses for high school students. While Collins said it’s a great idea, and allows young adults to enter the workforce sooner, it comes at a cost.
PCBs have cost $9.2 million in remediation costs, of which $8.7 million was spent at the high school alone, and the remediation isn’t done.
“I’ve heard repeatedly that schools are spending too much on educating too few students,” Collins said. “I agree that we need to become more efficient and that there are likely cost containment measures that can be realized with some systemic change.”
Rather than blame education for spending too much, focus on why the spending is occurring, Collins advised.
“Over the last two decades or so we’ve been boiling the frog alive,” Collins said.
As for the legislator’s plans to consolidate districts, Collins cautioned the Senate committee that central office costs range between five and 10 percent of overall education spending. Consolidating supervisory union districts in Orleans and northern Essex Counties will result in a 1,241 square mile district with 35 towns, and 19 schools. This is based on a Vermont School Board Association region, which Collins said is too large to be practical. At the extreme ends, the drive from Jay to Canaan takes an hour and 39 minutes, in good weather.
On the first day of school this past fall, a credible bomb threat was called in at North Country Union High School. The superintendent has a duty to be a part of the command post that is established by local law enforcement agencies. What happens if Collins was an hour away when the bomb threat was sent. An assistant superintendent was added last year to help relieve the administrative burden. Adding 1,300 more students and eight more schools would necessitate more assistant superintendents.
The central office costs $22.8 million, of which local school districts pay $8.3 million. The balance is covered by grants and other funding sources. Superintendents are responsible for 15 school boards, 63 board members, and 17 board meetings a month.
“Generally, the bigger and more complex the system, the bigger the bureaucracy to manage it – which doesn’t contain costs,” Collins said.
Which Collective Bargaining Agreement will be followed? Collins predicts they won’t level down to the lowest paid contract, which means personnel costs will increase. The financial systems may not be compatible; last year NCSU changed software which cost $200,000 for installation and training.
The high school is 60 years old and has outlived its life expectancy. A regional high school is under consideration, but it will come at a cost. Collins said state aid for school construction is an essential element.
Senator Scott Beck has promoted districts built around career and technical centers. But Collins said to do so will take a greater investment in resources to make programs available to all students. But the current funding structure doesn’t allow for the expansion of, or creation of, programs.
Collins said there are positives and negatives with different models. A model that creates voting wards in mega-districts with few representatives will not go over well in the Northeast Kingdom’s rural communities.
Collins offered the Senate Education Committee some advice.
-If there is no evidence that shows mega-districts save money, why are they considering this?
-Allow district(s) the time to create incentivized, voluntary mergers, for services or personnel. After a defined period, re-evaluate whether efficiencies have been achieved.
-Reinstitute state aid for school construction. NCSU’s schools don’t have the capacity to consolidate and add students from one school to another. Schools will have to be built or upsized, costing taxpayers more money in the short-term.
“The devil is in the details and how they might affect students,” Collins said. She points to school districts such as Morgan and Holland that pay tuition to send their students to Derby Elementary School. Holland’s tax rate will increase 19 cents this year as a result of the new funding formula because of the impact the Current Level of Appraisal has on the tax rate. These are low spending towns which will be significantly impacted by an increase in the property tax rate.
-Consider the impact unfunded mandates have on school budgets. Will school districts continue to have to fund these mandates without state assistance?
-Take steps to address cost drivers. Collins said a family health insurance plan costs $42,000. Health insurance has increased in costs by 125 percent in the past eight years.
-The models under consideration are short on details and long on promises to accept at face value that consolidation will save money, provide efficiencies, and be better for students. But, Collins said there is no supporting data.
“We must have data to support the decisions that we are making,” Collins said. “Making change for change’s sake won’t make a lot of sense if it ends up with a less efficient system in the end- and even worse- higher property taxes.”
She concluded by asking the legislators to work with school administrators and school boards instead of against them. School systems are performing necessary and important work that go beyond a student’s academic needs. To be blamed for spending too much because of additional responsibilities and unfunded mandates is unfair and demoralizing.
“We know we are spending a lot of money and the tension between our communities and our schools is unsustainable,” Collins said. “It continues to be a heavy weight for administrators and school boards. We want change too- and we have practical experience and information that will be important for you to know as we implement change. Please work with us.”
To read Collin’s full statement, email Tiffany Gray at tiffany.gray@ncsuvt.org to access the testimony and ask for a copy.