LUDLOW, Vt. – The Ludlow-Mount Holly Unified Union School District Board voted unanimously at its March meeting to resubmit the budget to voters on Tuesday, April 22. The vote will take place at the Ludlow Town Hall and Mount Holly Town Office, from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., or by advance voting.
The board recognized that the budget would require taxes to increase, but noted that almost all of the increase was for items beyond their control. Spending will increase by $1,341,057 (15%), with much of the increase attributable to tuition for middle and high school students, and for special education costs. In addition, the tax rate will increase because of the determination by the State that property values in Ludlow and Mount Holly have risen more rapidly than in the rest of the State, and because of the unavailability of a prior year surplus of $497,895 used to reduce taxes in last year’s budget.
Since the closure of Black River High School, the district must pay tuition for high school and middle school students to the public or private schools they choose to attend. This year’s budget included 141 students with an average tuition of $18,857, for a total cost of $2,658,875. The projection for next year is 144 students with an average tuition of $22,370, for a total of $3,222,317, an increase of $517,651.
Special education costs are projected to increase by $372,330. State and federal law requires the district to pay for students’ Individual Education Plans (IEP) after they have been determined to need extra assistance. The district cannot unilaterally modify a student’s IEP. Teachers and principals are now working on a plan to provide less expensive assistance to help students before they have been formally assessed as needing an IEP. They hope that this plan will reduce future special education costs, but it will take several years to gain those savings.
The budget approved by the board also included two new teachers, to enable both schools to have one teacher for each grade. The district aims to have class sizes between 13 and 18, but the fifth and sixth grades in Mount Holly are projected to have 23 students, while Ludlow will have 20. Combining the grades would result in larger classes than desired. Superintendent Layne Millington explained that many of these students have not recovered from the disruptions caused by Covid. Many students are struggling with mental health issues that are not being addressed outside of the schools. The cost of these teachers, including benefits, is $200,000, and causes an additional 2% increase in property taxes. The board voted unanimously to add these two teachers, as members agreed that the benefit to the students was worth the small additional cost.
Other budget increases include $117,010 in benefits, primarily for health insurance costs that are set by the state, and a contingency to cover salary increases that are being negotiated.
Public meetings will be held in early April, in Ludlow and Mount Holly, to answer any questions about the budget. Many details are also available on the schools’ website, www.trsu.org.