Families are moving to Vermont choice towns to take advantage of private school choice

During public comment at the Redistricting Task Force meeting on October 22nd, Debbie Singiser, Chair of the Barstow Unified Union School District Board highlighted the challenge of an increasing share of public tax dollars funding private tuition.

Public Comment – Vermont School District Redistricting Task Force

Rutland High School, Rutland, Vermont

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Debbie Singiser, and I serve as Chair of

the Barstow Unified Union School District Board in the Rutland Northeast Supervisory

Union.

Barstow is a PK–8 district serving Mendon and Chittenden, with school choice for high school.

I would like to share some information about a trend we are seeing when it comes to school

choice. There is a growing share of public dollars being used for private high school tuition,

particularly at the Killington Mountain School.

Over the last five years, our district has paid 122 private school tuitions, and only half were

for students who graduated from Barstow’s 8th grade. It’s clear that some families are

moving into our district mainly to access school choice—private school choice, that is.

Looking at the data, this shift is clear:

In FY21, 16% of our high school students attended private schools—or 13 out of 81 students.

By FY25, that rose to 35% --- or 30 out of 85 students—a doubling in just four years.

At Killington Mountain School alone, our district tuitioned 15 students in one year, 10 of whom

never attended Barstow. This means local taxpayers are increasingly funding education for

students with limited or only temporary ties to our community.

As you review district re-organization, I urge you to establish guard rails around school

choice—either by limiting public tuition payments to public schools or by requiring that

private high school tuition be available only to students who have been attending a school

in the tuitioning district for a determined period of time.

Without these guard rails, our district is losing its ability to sustain a strong and equitable

public education for our students at Barstow Memorial School. And that is a true disservice to

Frederic Duclos Barstow, a soldier who fought and died from injuries sustained fighting for our

country in WWI–and in whose memory the school was founded.

Thank you for your time and your work on this important issue.

Debbie Singiser, Chair

Barstow Unified Union School District

October 22, 2025