Act 46
In its Final Report and Order on Act 46, the State Board of Education has ordered that the Barre City School District, the Barre Town School District, and the Spaulding Union High School District merge into a single Unified Union School District.
On this page you will find meeting minutes, up to date information, Articles of Agreement, and other documents related to Act 46. While every effort has been made to make these documents compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, some of the documents containing board signatures may not be readable by electronic readers. If you are unable to view or read any of the documents on these pages, please contact Tina Gilbert at the BSU, and she will mail the document out to you. Tina can be reached at tgilbbsu@u61.net; or at 802-476-5011.
Latest Update - December 5, 2018
Barre Town has scheduled a “reconsideration vote” for January 8, 2019:
If at least 1,404 YES votes are tallied, AND less than 1,404 NO votes are tallied, the
- The new district will use the Articles of Agreement drafted by the Barre Act 46 Merger Study Committee (see #4 below)
- The 9-member Board elected on November 6 will be the Board of the new district
- Both Barre Town and Barre City will receive the 4-year tax reductions of 8 cents (year 1), 6 cents (year 2), 4 cents (year 3) and 2 cents (year 4) amounting to an estimated $5 million dollars total
- The new district will receive the $150,000 transition grant awarded for voluntarily merging
- There will be one vote on Town Meeting Day, March 5, 2019:
- To vote on the new unified budget for Fiscal Year 2020
- To fill open seats on current district boards
- No additional votes will be necessary unless the budget vote does not pass
- If fewer than 1,404 YES votes are tallied, OR more NO votes are tallied than YES votes are tallied, then:
- The districts will still be merged.
- The new district will be forced to use the Default Articles of Agreement drafted by the State Board of Education (see #3 below)
- The new district will have a 4-member board, unless the Default Articles are amended and are approved by another public vote in February
- Barre Town and Barre City will not receive any tax reductions nor transition funds
- There will be another vote on Town Meeting Day, March 5, 2019 to fill open seats on current district boards
- There will be yet another vote in March or April to elect the Board of the new district
- There will be still another vote on the new unified budget for Fiscal Year 2020 in April, May or JuneMore additional votes will be necessary if the budget vote fails
Helpful Links
The State Board of Education’s Official Order of the merger of the Barre City School District, the Barre Town School District, and the Spaulding Unified High School District can be found at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/
The State Board of Education’s Final Statewide Plan in its entirety can be found at the following link, with the sections addressing Barre on pages 25, 26, and 31: https://education.vermont.gov/
The Default Articles of Agreement the State Board of Education has developed for Barre can be found at the following link: https://education.vermont.gov/
The Articles of Agreement prepared by the Barre Act 46 Merger Study Committee can be found at the following link: http://bsuvt.org/joomla/