Vermont
Vt. lawmakers scour for Ed Fund revenue following Town Meeting Day massacre
MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – How can Vermont find more funding for education, and are new education-financing reforms needed? School superintendents who saw the voter backlash to double-digit property taxes on Town Meeting Day say they can’t cut their budgets anymore and instead want lawmakers to find additional money for the Education Fund, to offset the need for higher taxes.
Superintendents across Vermont are still digesting last week’s Town Meeting Day results, where voters rejected an unprecedented one-third of local school budgets.
“Our communities have told us we need to make cuts, but they have also told us that they want the best education possible for their children,” said Flor Diaz Smith, chair of the Washington Central Unified Union School District.
Thirty districts voted down their school budgets and school administrators say costs across the state are spiking with schools absorbing more costs that don’t involve academics.
“The reality is our school funding system is disguising the true cost of mental health and social services and other costs in the state,” said Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Lynn Cota. She says many districts are re-warning school budget votes for the spring that could include laying off staff and cutting programs.
“This is all crystalizing, school districts are in a tough position,” said Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D- Brattleboro, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. She says lawmakers plan on raising other tax revenues to help ease the pressure on property taxes. That could include taxes on streaming services, software, sugary soft drinks, and the sales tax. “When we’re making decisions around the Education Fund, we want to make sure it is a more progressive revenue source than the property tax.”
Governor Phil Scott opposes raising any taxes and says lawmakers need to focus on cost containment. “That’s $225 million; 20% increase; 30% of the budgets fell. That’s unheard of in Vermont. We’ve got a problem on our hands,” he said.
State lawmakers are also looking to find efficiencies including letting districts join in transportation and mental health contracts together and by putting more funds toward community schools. They are also advancing a bill to create a school construction aid program, which was a big driver of school budgets this year. Some say it’s also time to resume discussions about school consolidation from where the Act 46 school merger measure left off.
But while districts go back to the drawing board, they say that they can’t take on more programs or expenses. “We need help. What we don’t need is new obstacles or mandates from the Legislature that reduce our funding or stretch our budgets even further,” said WCUUSD’s Flor Diaz Smith.
It’s still too soon to see what the exact tax rate will be because there are still over a dozen districts that need to hold votes, in addition to the 30 revotes.
Related Stories:
Cascade of failed school budgets causes hand-wringing in Montpelier
South Burlington School Board approves 2nd budget; WCUUSD voters reject budget
Vt. school officials recalibrate after nearly one-third of budgets rejected by voters
Voters reject nearly one-third of Vt. school budgets
Vermont towns brace for school budget backlash
802 News Podcast: School taxes sticker shock
Gov. Scott signs law aimed at easing soaring property taxes
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Vermont
Vermont offers criminal record clearing clinic to seal or expunge old cases
VERMONT (WRGB) — Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark will host a free criminal record clearing clinic on Thursday, January 15, 2025 in Brattleboro, the first to be held in the state since new expungement laws changed in July.
Sealing a record allows an individual to wipe from their criminal record specific convictions and dismissed charges after a certain period of time has passed, including records relating to contact with the criminal justice system, like arrest or citation, arraignment, plea or conviction, and sentencing. Under Vermont’s updated law, most misdemeanors, various non-violent felony offenses, and all dismissed charges can be sealed. The free clinic will focus on sealing criminal charges and convictions from Windham County, and will be open to the public by appointment only.
“For many years, my office has assisted Vermonters with clearing old criminal records that are holding them back from securing stable housing, getting better jobs, and participating fully in their communities,” said Attorney General Clark. “These clinics are a way for us to help Vermonters who have paid their debt to society and stayed out of trouble get a fresh start and strengthen the community as a whole. I want to thank Windham County State’s Attorney Steve Brown, Interaction, and the Brooks Memorial Library for their assistance in hosting this clinic.”
Attorneys from the Attorney General’s Office will offer free assistance with petitions for Vermont-specific “qualifying” criminal convictions and dismissed charges. Appointments will be available from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Vermonters must schedule appointments in advance by calling the Attorney General’s Office at 802-828-3171 or emailing AGO.Info@vermont.gov by Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Eligible participants will be given an in-person appointment at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, Vermont, on the day of the clinic.
More information on sealing and expungements generally is available at Vermont Legal Aid’s website at www.vtlawhelp.org/expungement.
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Vermont
21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited
A 21-year-old is dead after a pickup truck slammed head-on into her vehicle on Interstate 89 Wednesday evening in Bolton, Vermont, and the other driver involved has been cited.
State police say they responded around 5:22 p.m. to reports of a wrong-way driver in the area of mile marker 71. As troopers were responding, a multi-vehicle crash on the interstate was reported to dispatchers.
A preliminary investigation shows 45-year-old Timothy Wooster was driving a Toyota Tundra in the northbound lane when he crossed the median into the southbound lane, where he continued traveling the wrong way until he collided head-on with a Kia Sportage that was being driven by 21-year-old Hailey Westcot, police said.
A third vehicle, a Cascadia Freightliner, was traveling southbound when the head-on collision happened ahead, causing the vehicle to strike Westcot’s car and then rollover.
Westcot, of Northfield, Vt., was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Wooster, of Jericho, Vt., was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center to be treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The third driver who was involved, 50-year-old Douglas Bailey, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was evaluated on scene and did not report any injuries, police added.
Officials haven’t said what led Wooster to allegedly drive in the wrong direction on the highway. Wooster was cited on a charge of grossly negligent operation with death resulting. Further charges will be determined as the investigation continues, according to police.
Any witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Shawn Morrow at 802-878-7111. Anonymous tips can be submitted online here. The investigation remains ongoing.
It’s unclear if Wooster has obtained legal representation at this time. He’s due in Chittenden County Superior Court on Jan. 29, 2026.
Vermont
UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger
The University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.
Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM — such as soccer or basketball — which means the school’s men’s and women’s teams play outside of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The men’s team plays in National Collegiate Rugby’s Division II, which has more than 100 teams in different regional conferences across the country.
The team’s win Sunday capped an undefeated season that also saw it dispatch rivals in earlier rounds of the Division II tournament by double-digit margins.
“It really hasn’t even set in yet, still. Every time I see a picture or something, I’m like, holy — I can’t believe it,” said Jack Worobel, a senior mechanical engineering major at UVM who plays in the No. 4, or “lock,” position. “It’s awesome.”
In UVM’s rugby league, 15 players are on the field for each team at a time. Players advance the ball by running or kicking it but aren’t allowed to pass the ball forward. Points come primarily through “tries,” which are worth five points each and scored by bringing the ball into the opponent’s in-goal area and touching it to the ground.
Worobel credited UVM’s win to strong bonds that he said he and his teammates have built up over the past four years. A number of the players, including himself, have been on the team every year since they were first-year students, he said.
UVM has had a men’s rugby team since 1970, according to a school press release.
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“We all do anything for each other. Anyone would do a favor for anyone else on this team — I think that’s where the win comes (from),” Worobel said Wednesday. “It’s not from the skill or the talents. Really, it’s what’s off the field.”
The rugby team’s win comes about a year after UVM’s men’s soccer team — which competes at the highest level of collegiate athletics — won the NCAA Division I championship last December. UVM has also won six NCAA championships in skiing, with the most recent coming in 2012.
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