Founded in 1963, the VSBA is a private, nonprofit membership association dedicated to serving Vermont’s elected school boards. We provide our members with services, support and counsel as they lead their districts, navigate relationships and promote public education across Vermont.
Welcome
New School Board Members!
The VT AOE's District Quality Standards, which include governance standards for school boards, go into effect on July 1, 2025. The standards are general principles of good governance and provide boards guidance on their essential work. The first step in ensuring compliance with these standards is to find out where your board currently is. To help you with this, the VSBA has created a self-evaluation tool for boards to see where the gaps are between your current practices and the new governance standards.
Joint Training for Chairs and Superintendents
In 2013, the legislature adopted 16 V.S.A. § 561(b) requring at least eight hours of joint training for the superintendent and board chair annually. In 2023, the VSBA and the VSA adapted their annual fall conference to fulfill the requirements of the law if the superintendent and board chair attended the conference together. This will be an option again at the 2024 Annual VSBA/VSA Conference at which all eight hours of training can be obtained. (See below under Save the Date for information about the annual conference.) New this year is a self-guided opportunity, Leadership Expedition. Similar to a self-paced course, the chair and superintendent may select what, when, and how they learn together. In addition to providing more flexibility, this self-guided option offers differentiated learning to meet the needs of governance teams with varying degrees of knowledge and experience. Please let us know if you have any questions about this resource by contacting Debbie Singiser at dsingiser@vtvsba.org.
Orientation: Building the Board Team Webinar
Recorded March 6, 2024
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Herb Ogden -Taconic and Green Board Chair
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Dick Dale - Taconic and Green Board Vice Chair
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Kelly Young - Windham Southeast School District Board Chair
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Ursula Stanley - Member of Washington Central Unified Union School District Board Member
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“Every time a new trustee joins the board, it’s a new board.”
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How newly elected or appointed trustees are brought onto the governance team will in many ways determine how that board will function from that point on. It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of welcoming and onboarding a new member to the governance team, and yet, not every district does it well.
With Town Meeting behind us and newly elected trustees in front of us ready to take their seat at the board table, they need to feel welcome and part of the team AND to learn their job in school board governance.
Everyone has a part to play in the process: the new member, the superintendent, the chair/president, and other board members.
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Handouts:
Legislative Advocacy Webinar
Recorded February 12, 2024
Senator Martine Gulick (Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee) and Representative Peter Conlon (Chair of the House Education Committee) spoke to the work in their respective education committees and gave us a preview of what’s to come before adjournment. They were joined by VSBA and VSA staff members who are representing their respective organizations’ memberships when engaging with the General Assembly on issues affecting education. VSBA has over 50 resolutions covering a range of issues, including governance, local control, and the role of the state in education; education finance; instruction; labor relations; and health and wellness. For more information, visit https://www.vtvsba.org/public-policy