Vermont
Vermont education officials reached a settlement over religious schools. A federal judge in Burlington had concerns.
Earlier this month, the Vermont Company of Training reached a $95,000 settlement settlement to place an finish to a two-year-old lawsuit over spiritual faculties.
Since 2020, the company has been embroiled in litigation with a gaggle of oldsters and the Catholic Diocese of Burlington, who’ve argued that Vermont kids ought to be allowed to make use of public tuition {dollars} at spiritual faculties.
After a pivotal U.S. Supreme Courtroom resolution in June, the 2 sides agreed to settle. Underneath the phrases of that settlement, the Company of Training would pay $95,000 for plaintiffs’ attorneys’ charges and agreed to concern a letter informing faculty districts that native officers couldn’t use Vermont’s structure to “deny households’ use of tuition advantages at spiritual faculties.”
The company despatched that letter to superintendents earlier this month.
However final week, a federal choose in Burlington expressed concern with among the settlement’s phrases.
In a Sept. 22 telephone convention, U.S. District Courtroom Decide Christina Reiss instructed attorneys that the proposed settlement would require her to log out on a authorized opinion that she had not written, and that elements of the settlement had been “regarding” and would make her “uncomfortable.”
In some provisions of the settlement, Reiss stated, the events “have the Courtroom reaching sure conclusions of legislation that I haven’t reached” — conclusions, she stated, that “I might not attain with out doing my very own evaluation.”
Reiss’ feedback might not change the sensible final result of the case: Vermont public cash is at the moment paying for tuition at spiritual faculties, and has been doing so since an appellate courtroom order final yr. And different provisions of the settlement might keep unchanged.
However they supply an uncommon footnote to a dispute over probably the most controversial questions in Vermont schooling.
In Vermont, 1000’s of children dwell in small, rural cities that don’t function their very own public faculty. As a substitute, native districts pay tuition for kids to attend public or non-public faculties in different components of the state or nation — or, in some circumstances, overseas.
However for years, college students had been restricted from utilizing these public {dollars} to attend spiritual faculties. That’s as a result of a provision in Vermont’s state structure, referred to as the “Compelled Help Clause,” prohibits residents from being compelled to help a faith that they don’t consider in.
In 1999, Vermont’s Supreme Courtroom dominated that public tuition cash couldn’t go to non secular faculties “within the absence of ample safeguards in opposition to the usage of such funds for spiritual worship.”
As a substitute of defining “ample safeguards,” nevertheless, state officers merely barred tuition funds from getting used at spiritual faculties in any respect.
In September 2020, a gaggle of Vermont dad and mom represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a outstanding Christian advocacy group, sued the state over these restrictions, alleging that they amounted to discrimination.
In June, the Supreme Courtroom dominated in a case referred to as “Carson v. Makin” {that a} Maine tuition program — one which, like Vermont’s, supplied public cash for college kids to attend non-public faculties — couldn’t bar these funds from getting used at spiritual faculties.
That call was extensively interpreted to have a broad influence on Vermont’s academic panorama.
Following that call, state officers agreed to the settlement cope with the dad and mom. As a part of that deal, state schooling officers agreed to log out on a sequence of provisions, together with one stating that the latest Supreme Courtroom resolution “renders Vermont’s ample safeguards requirement unconstitutional.”
State schooling officers could be “completely enjoined from imposing the ample safeguards requirement to disclaim cost of tuition to impartial faculties primarily based on their spiritual standing, affiliation, beliefs, train, or actions,” the settlement learn.
The company would even be barred from “advising, directing, or offering steerage to highschool districts, authorized impartial faculties, or the general public that the ample safeguards requirement could also be enforced to exclude impartial faculties from tuition advantages.”
However Reiss, the federal choose overseeing the case, balked at these situations.
Reiss anticipated a “judgment with varied recitals, the events conform to this and that,” which she would conform to implement, she instructed attorneys throughout final week’s telephone convention.
However as a substitute, she stated, she was being requested to log out on what had been successfully authorized opinions that she had not come to.
“So I would not, like, strike down a provision of the Vermont Structure or maintain one thing unconstitutional until I really determined myself that I agreed with that,” Reiss stated, in line with a courtroom transcript of the dialog. “And I don’t consider I’ve ever been requested to sort of undertake any person’s conclusions of legislation in that method.”
The prospect of limiting officers’ steerage to highschool districts made her “uncomfortable,” Reiss stated, noting that she had not “carried out a First Modification evaluation on freedom of speech of whether or not I ought to be ordering a state official what to say and to not say.”
Paul Schmitt, an lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom representing the dad and mom, instructed Reiss that the settlement’s intent was to “resolve this authorized query.”
“And actually the one method to do this could be for the Courtroom to do it, understanding that this has come up repeatedly over the past twenty years,” he stated. “And so we had been in search of finality.”
However Reiss stated that resolution appeared “sort of distinctive.”
“You may conform to something you need,” Reiss stated. “You may ask me to implement it. However it should not be me reaching any sort of conclusions that I have never reached myself.”
Attorneys for the 2 sides in the end agreed to attempt to resolve the language of the settlement.
A spokesperson for the Alliance Defending Freedom stated the group couldn’t remark till the settlement was finalized.
Ted Fisher, a spokesperson for the Vermont Company of Training, stated that the settlement would enable “tuition paying faculty districts to maneuver ahead with readability, understanding that they have to pay tuition to all authorized impartial faculties no matter spiritual affiliation.”
The cost of the $95,000 is contingent on the courtroom’s approval of that settlement, Fisher stated.
However Peter Teachout, a constitutional legislation professor at Vermont Regulation and Graduate Faculty who has criticized the Company of Training’s steerage round spiritual faculties, referred to as the phrases of the settlement “deeply problematic” and stated it made “radical concessions.”
Faculty district officers, he believes, can fulfill each the Vermont Structure’s compelled help clause and the Supreme Courtroom’s latest ruling with out battle — akin to by limiting tuition cash to public faculties solely, or by selecting choose non-public faculties to designate as recipients of that cash.
“Decide Reiss is correct to have reservations about approving a settlement which purports to declare {that a} key provision within the Vermont state structure is ‘unconstitutional,’” Teachout stated, “particularly since, opposite to the stipulations within the proposed settlement settlement, that conclusion just isn’t required by the Supreme Courtroom’s resolution within the Carson case.”
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The personal data of students and staff at several dozen Vermont school districts may have been compromised in a nationwide data breach of a student information system, according to state education officials.
PowerSchool, a California-based company that provides a student information system and cloud software used by 39 school districts in Vermont, told its customers on Tuesday that personal data of students, staff and faculty of school districts throughout the country were hacked, according to officials.
The company serves more than 75% of students in North America, according to a report from TechCrunch, and its software is used by roughly 16,000 customers to support more than 50 million students in the United States.
Schools use the software to manage student records, grades, attendance and enrollment.
It is unclear how many school districts in Vermont were affected by the data breach. Lindsey Hedges, a spokesperson for the state Agency of Education, said in an email that not all of the 39 districts that use PowerSchool were affected, but noted that the agency “will continue to work with districts and remain in contact as the full impact of the incident unfolds.”
Champlain Valley School District was among the affected districts. Adam Bunting, the district’s superintendent, said in a letter to families that “the Agency of Education is actively working with PowerSchool to determine the next steps.”
“We understand that the situation is concerning and will keep you informed as we learn more,” Bunting wrote in the letter.
In a phone interview, Bunting said PowerSchool informed the district that the breached personal information of faculty and staff mainly included things like contact information.
“The information, as far as we understand, does not include things like Social Security numbers,” he said. “The initial information we have is that it’s more about contact information.”
Student information, Bunting said, may include names, address, emails and birthdates.
A spokesperson for PowerSchool, Beth Keebler, said in an emailed statement that the company “is committed to protecting the security and integrity of our applications.”
“We take our responsibility to protect student data privacy and act responsibly as data processors extremely seriously,” the statement reads. “Our priority is to support our customers through this incident and to continue our unrelenting focus on data security.”
TechCrunch reported that hackers successfully breached the company’s school information system, and the company was made aware of the breach on or around December 28.
“As soon as we learned of the incident, we immediately engaged our cybersecurity response protocols and mobilized a cross-functional response team, including senior leadership and third-party cybersecurity experts,” the company’s statement said.
The company said it does not anticipate the data being shared or made public.
Zoie Saunders, Vermont’s secretary of education, said in correspondence to superintendents of the affected districts that the impact of the breach may vary from district to district.
“We understand that this news may be concerning, but please be assured that the agency takes incidents involving student information very seriously and is committed to ensuring that all necessary measures are in place to safeguard it,” she wrote.
Vermont
Grace Potter 'Emotionally Preparing to Lose' Home in L.A. Fires as She Reveals Vt. House Destroyed in Flood Last Summer
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/grace-potter-fires-tout-010925-d2c8e62a185845dc85646ac8779d95d2.jpg "Grace Potter 'Emotionally Preparing to Lose' Home in L.A. Fires as She Reveals Vt. House Destroyed in Flood Last Summer")
Grace Potter is staying safe amid the fires in California.
In an Instagram Reel shared on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the “Mother Road” singer spoke about evacuating the Los Angeles fires after recently being in New Orleans during the terror attack on Jan. 1 and losing her Vermont home amid the flooding in July 2024.
“We are safely evacuated from Topanga Canyon but many are still in harms way,” Potter, 41, wrote. “Just now we discovered that the place we evacuated to is also under evacuation orders. They just announced the schools are shut.”
Potter said that she had just arrived in L.A. after a cross-country trip after being in New Orleans “amid the terror attack.” She also mentioned that last summer her Fayston, Vt. farm was “devastated by the floods.”
“Life is wildly unpredictable and it’s important [to] keep your heart strong and your mind clear. If you see smoke, don’t wait for cell signal,” Potter continued.
“Trust your gut. Pack the necessities & GET OUT. I’m feeling deep gratitude for family, friends, the firefighters and for community. We are lucky. Stay safe out there folks.”
Her Jan. 8 video showed her driving away from the smoke. “Am I a storm chaser, or do I just like being places where really bad things happen? Or is this just happening everywhere? I don’t know,” she said in the clip, adding that she would pick up her son Sagan, 7 this week, from school and found a hotel to stay at.
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On Jan. 1, Potter was in New Orleans celebrating the New Year when a truck intentionally drove through the crowd on Bourbon Street leaving at least 14 people dead and dozens injured.
“We were standing at the corner of the intersection where only hours later a car came crashing through in a terrifying & violent act,” Potter’s joint Instagram post with husband Eric Valentine read.
“Then this morning, as we were in our room packing our bags to leave, a bomb was detonated less than a block away from our hotel in the quarter.”
Valentine added: “I am grateful my family is safe. I am grateful for the brave people who put their lives on the line to do their best to keep us safe. Our hearts go out to those who were injured and to the families and friends of those who were lost.”
In July, the singer posted pictures and videos of the damage from the floods with water overflowing rivers and roadways. Following the flooding, Potter said that the annual Grand Point North Festival would also serve as a benefit for those affected by the Vt. floods.
“Vermont, my heart is with you. I’ll be home soon, and we will rebuild as we always do,” she wrote.
Grace Potter/Instagram
Potter also shared a picture of a map of the blaze on her Instagram Stories on Jan. 8, pointing out where her home was. “Emotionally preparing to lose our home,” she wrote. “All i can do now is hope for a miracle & send love to the Canyon that brought me back into the daylight.”
The L.A. fires began on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Thousands of structures have been affected by the disastrous blaze.
Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.
UVM hockey legend Eric Perrin returns to Burlington on coaching staff
Eric Perrin, UVM hockey’s all-time leading goal scorer returns to Burlington helping out on the coaching staff for the past nine days.
Vermont basketball scored the game’s first seven points and built multiple 10-point leads early in the first half of Saturday’s America East Conference showdown at Bryant.
But everything unraveled after the Catamounts’ roaring start.
The Bryant Bulldogs seized control by the halftime horn and rolled in the second half for a 73-53 victory, handing Vermont its biggest conference defeat in two decades.
The Catamounts (9-9, 2-1) haven’t loss by at least 20 points to a league opponent in the regular season since the 2004-05 finale at Maine, 87-66, when stars Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine did not play. They also suffered a 22-point setback to Stony Brook in the 2011 America East semifinals.
Vermont opened a 24-14 lead on a Shamir Bogues 3-pointer with 8 minutes, 21 seconds before the break. Then the Bulldogs unleashed a 20-6 spurt to close the half. Bryant, though, kept momentum on its side, scoring 20 of the first 22 points of the second half.
The advantage ballooned to 57-32 by the 12-minute mark. All told, Bryant had a 43-8 run spanning the two halves to carve out the insurmountable advantage.
Connor Withers, who started Bryant’s comeback in the first half with a 3-pointer, paced the hosts with 19 points. Rafael Pinzon and Barry Evans each had 13 points, and Early Timberlake added a dozen points for Bryant’s first win over Vermont since joining America East ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
For Vermont, Bogues totaled 17 points and six rebounds, and Ileri Ayo-Faleye collected 15 points. Sam Alamutu picked up 11 rebounds.
The Bulldogs scored 22 points off Vermont’s 17 turnovers. Bryant also made 11 3-pointers.
The Catamounts return to action for the league home opener Thursday night vs. Binghamton.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
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