Montpelier, Vt. — Vermont school districts say time is running out to address crumbling facilities as they look to the state for guidance under Act 73, the new education law signed by Gov. Phil Scott in July.

The law revives hope for state aid in school construction, a program that has been dormant for nearly two decades. For many districts, that lifeline cannot come soon enough.

At Woodstock Union High School and Middle School, the list of problems reads like a case study in deferred maintenance: failing HVAC, outdated electrical systems, and a sewage network that dates back to the 1960s.

“We can’t guarantee, based on where our systems are now, that our sewage system is going to work,” said Sherry Sousa, superintendent of the Mountain Views Supervisory Union, which oversees the school.

A sense of urgency

The Mountain Views board voted to press forward with planning a replacement school building despite uncertainty about how state funding will work.

“We’ve decided that we can’t wait. We have to move forward. We need a new school,” said board chair Keri Bristow. “We have to do something before we have a catastrophic failure.”

The sentiment echoes across the state. Vermont schools are the second-oldest in the country, and the Agency of Education estimates they will require $6 billion in investment over the next 20 years.

What Act 73 does

Act 73 sets up a School Construction Aid Advisory Board, tasked with recommending which projects should be prioritized for state support. The board must hold its first meeting by September 1, while the formal aid fund won’t launch until July 2026.

“This is a positive sign,” said David Epstein, an architect with Burlington-based TruexCullins who has worked with districts across Vermont. But, he cautioned, “Until a funding source is identified and the scale of that funding source is understood, it’s hard for me to be too optimistic.”

Gov. Scott echoed that cautious tone, saying construction aid should follow district consolidation efforts. “That’s an appropriate time to talk about school construction,” Scott said last week. “We should be prepared for that, I realize that, but I think we’d be putting the cart before the horse.”

Districts caught in limbo

Many school systems have turned to local bonds to cover costs — with mixed results.

• Colchester voters narrowly approved a $115 million bond in 2023.
• Harwood Unified Union School District saw its $59.5 million bond rejected in 2021.
• Mountain Views’ own $99 million bond failed in 2024, forcing the district back to patchwork fixes.

“We’re spending a lot of money on capital needs for things that really require wholesale renovation, new construction,” said Michael Leichliter, superintendent of Harwood.

The Orleans Central Supervisory Union faces $108 million in deferred maintenance and is considering outreach to voters about future bonds, but uncertainty about Act 73 funding makes planning difficult.

“We know we’ve got to do something. We know it’s going to cost a lot of money — even if it’s no new construction, just fixing what we have,” said Dan Roock, chair of Orleans Central’s facilities committee.

Looking ahead

State lawmakers acknowledge the urgency but stress that funding details remain unresolved.

“There’s a general recognition that we have to figure out a way to help with school construction funding,” said Sen. Seth Bongartz (D-Bennington), chair of the Senate Education Committee. “But … we’re in uncharted waters.”

Meanwhile, Sousa said Mountain Views will push ahead despite the uncertainty.

“I think we’ve been patient, and the board has been really responsible. Now, we really have to fill in the gray spaces of Act 73,” she said. “We want to work with the Agency of Education to fill in that gray space and acknowledge, how does this school district move forward?”

Originally reported by Corey McDonald in VNews.