Education in Vermont - Primary and Secondary Schools

Primary and Secondary Schools

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.

A majority of graduating seniors select out-of-state colleges. This reached a high of 59.4% in 2004 and has ebbed since then.

The high school population is expected to decline 20% from 2009 to 2022, one of the largest drops in the nation. This is attributed to Vermont's low birthrate.

School districts include the Dresden School District, the first-in-the-nation cross-state school district, which includes Hanover, New Hampshire. Hanover was once part of the state of Vermont (see below).

The state authorized two more pre-K grades to the school system for the benefit of three and four year olds. Entry to these two grades is capped.

In 2008, there were 19,145 full-time equivalent teachers and 94,114 students in public schools. Teacher-pupil ratio is 11.12:1. The number of pupils has dropped annually from 2003-2009.

Private schools are less common than public schools. Some private high schools can be perceived as "semi-private.". This means that while it costs money to send children there, towns will make a contract with a school to take children from a town at a slightly reduced rate. Often this is done when it is deemed cheaper to subsidize private tuition than build a whole new school when a private one already exists.

Around 90 Vermont towns have no public schools at all or only have a public elementary school or a public high school. The students of these towns have access to school choice for the grades the town does not provide. In these instances, towns are required to pay tuition to other public schools or approved independent schools for resident students of the town to attend.

In 2008, Vermont high school students achieved the highest five-year increase in the country in Advanced Placement testing. 19.8% of tested students scored a 3 or higher, compared to an average of 15.2% in the rest of the country.

In 2010 the state ranked highest in the nation for achievement of low-income students. In the same evaluation, it ranked the lowest in the county for education reform.States were evaluated for education reform on academic standards, change in proficiency standards, private school choice, charter school law, online learning policies and programs, home-schooling regulations and removing ineffective teachers.