FAIR HAVEN, Vt. (WCAX) – Heading to its fifth budget vote on Tuesday, June 18th, the Slate Valley Unified School District is hoping to pass its spending plan this time around.
When going into the fourth budget vote, the Slate Valley school board did not make any cuts to their more than $30 million budget, hoping their previous loss was due to poor voter turnout.
That budget failed by 32 votes, but superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell says the school didn’t want to take chances this time around.
”They did cut a middle school/high school teacher, a school nurse, bus monitors, they cut the middle school orientation program,” said Olsen-Farrell.
The board voted to cut $312,900 from the $30,810,135 budget given to voters for its fourth vote, hoping for a better outcome on the fifth try.
“We need a passed budget, it’s as simple as that, going into July first without a budget leaves us in a place of real uncertainty,” said Olsen-Farrell.
But the battle over the budget has left voters feeling uncertain. Fair Haven resident Bob Love says the community feels the school board could have been more proactive with taxpayer consideration.
“If they made some cuts sooner, that would’ve made a big difference. There’s extra fat that could’ve been cut, and it seems like they use a bullying tactic of using the kids as leverage instead of what’s best for the kids,” said Love.
Love says there’s a good chance the budget will pass for the fifth time since the board trimmed the budget, but believes either way, it’ll hurt the property owner’s bottom dollar.
“It’s very hard for people, especially people on fixed incomes, they don’t really get a choice there, so it’s hard for them to continue to keep their houses. That’s a significant increase. From what I’m told, it’s gonna be a lot of money,” said Love.
Olsen-Farrell says the community needs to find a better solution for school funding, a sentiment felt across the state as school superintendents faced voter backlash to those steep property tax hikes.
“I think we can be committed to having those conversations and to finding a path forward together, but the vitriol and the rhetoric is just not helpful,” said Olsen-Farrel.
Voters can cast their ballots next Tuesday, June 18th, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.