A Vermont Design for Education

School Spending: Highs and Lows

The amount we spend per student varies widely among Vermont schools, from a low of $12,000 at the Halifax Elementary school, to $30,000 at the Westminster Elementary School. At the high school level, spending ranges from $12,275 at Lamoille North to $27,412 at Randolph. (These data are sourced from the Announced Tuitions for 2026 published by the Vermont Agency of Education.) Per-student cost in elementary schools averages $19,436, and for high schools $21,560, an 11% difference.

As we design a new governance and funding scheme, we need to look closely at the whys and wherefores of this wide range. Such a range certainly raises questions of educational equity and quality; it also raises questions of relative efficiency.

High Schools

What explains the wide range of spending in our high schools? School size seems not to be a factor. Some of our largest schools, such as St. Johnsbury Academy and Union-32, are among the most expensive; while some smaller schools, such as Winooski and Blue Mountain, cost the least. In fact, there is no significant correlation between high school size and per-student cost in Vermont.

Ruralness may have some effect, but the opposite of what you might think. Some of our most rural high schools, such as Lamoille and Missisquoi, are the least costly. In fact, a very weak negative correlation of -0.18 exists between ruralness and cost. (Ruralness is estimated by the distance between K-12 sending and receiving schools.)

Here is a table of high school costs, size, and distances to its sending schools.

High School2026 CostStudentsDistance
LAMOILLE NORTH UUSD (Morrisville)12,27550632
WINOOSKI ID14,4002411
OXBOW UNIFIED UNION SD (Bradford) 17,00035028
BLUE MOUNTAIN USD 21 (Wells River)17,00021028
MILTON ID17,7504512
MONTPELIER ROXBURY SD18,50040832
MT. ANTHONY UHSD 14 (Bennington)18,5001,03219
FAIRFAX18,75091011
SLATE VALLEY UUSD (Fair Haven)19,00056224
MISSISQUOI VALLEY SD (Swanton)19,00076573
BARRE UUSD19,0006465
MT. MANSFIELD UUSD (Jericho)19,10077334
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST UUSD (Brattleboro)19,50079734
Twin Valley Unified SD (Wilmington)19,80020138
White River Unified District (Royalton)19,900212114
Quarry Valley Unified USD (Poultney)20,00037520
BURLINGTON20,0001,02314
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY USD #5620,2831,37821
RIVENDELL INTERSTATE SCHOOL (Fairlee)20,5002123
NORTH COUNTRY SR UHSD 2220,50069470
MAPLE RUN USD (St. Albans)21,0009779
STOWE21,0004522
ELMORE MORRISTOWN USD21,0003085
ARLINGTON21,0002001
ESSEX WESTFORD ECUUSD21,0001,22222
MT. ABRAHAM USD (Bristol)21,44163024
MILL RIVER USD #5221,50038021
SOUTH BURLINGTON21,7348934
MT. ASCUTNEY SD (Windsor)21,87859913
West River Union Education District21,97226937
BURR AND BURTON ACADEMY21,97272755
Green Mountain Unified SD22,00033939
RUTLAND CITY22,0008209
OTTER VALLEY USD #5322,15554826
HARWOOD USD #60 (Mad River Valley)22,34057931
Windsor Central Unified USD22,51048737
SHARON ACADEMY THE22,900
CRAFTSBURY23,00020027
HARTFORD23,0005317
HAZEN UHSD 26 (Hardwick)23,00031427
COLCHESTER23,3007336
LAKE REGION UHSD 24 (Barton)23,50038625
BELLOWS FALLS UHSD 2723,50032718
ADDISON CENTRAL USD #55 (Middlebury)23,52053132
ADDISON NORTHWEST USD #54 (Vergennes)23,5454003
ENOSBURG RICHFORD UUSD24,00054039
CANAAN24,000
ST JOHNSBURY ACADEMY24,60091234
WASHINGTON CENTRAL UUSD (U-32)24,72876232
DANVILLE25,00036233
TWINFIELD USD 3325,00038733
CABOT25,00017633
THETFORD ACADEMY25,0603121
LYNDON INSTITUTE25,20243235
Paine Mountain SD (Northfield)26,00048534
SPRINGFIELD26,4003713
ORANGE SOUTHWEST UUSD (Randolph)27,4123737
Mean21,56054025
Median21,87848525
Source: FY 2026 Announced Tuition Data Table, Vermont Agency of Education

A complete understanding of the differences in costs among high schools would require a school-by-school analysis of budgets, staffing, and programming. Such an analysis should be part of any statewide school improvement plan.

Elementary Schools

Elementary school costs in Vermont range from $12,000 to $30,000 per student. Again, this wide range raises questions of equity, quality, and efficiency. What explains the wide range of spending? School size seems to be a minor factor. Some of our larger elementary schools, such as Charlotte and Newport City, are among the most expensive; while some smaller schools, such as Readsboro and Windham, cost the least. Yet there exists a weak correlation of -0.26 between elementary school size and per-student cost in Vermont. The largest third of our elementary schools cost on average $18,434 per student, while the medium-sized third cost $19,493, and the smallest third $20,339.

Here is a table of elementary school cost and average size.

DistrictCostStudents
HALIFAX  12,000.00 77
WAITS RIVER VALLEY USD 36  13,000.00 290
WINOOSKI ID  13,900.00 476
MT. MANSFIELD UUSD  14,082.00 407
LAMOILLE NORTH UUSD  14,500.00 235
FLETCHER  14,500.00 121
OXBOW UNIFIED UNION SD  14,700.00 253
GEORGIA  14,750.00 640
STRAFFORD  14,928.00 129
WINDHAM NORTHEAST UESD  15,000.00 197
READSBORO  15,000.00 43
BLUE MOUNTAIN USD 21  15,100.00 225
MILTON ID  15,250.00 644
DERBY  15,500.00 507
STAMFORD  15,500.00 75
FAIRFAX  15,950.00 624
Green Mountain Unified SD  16,000.00 273
CRAFTSBURY  16,000.00 222
SOUTHWEST VT UESD  16,500.00 331
CAMBRIDGE  16,936.00 345
COLCHESTER  17,200.00 300
MONTPELIER ROXBURY SD  17,500.00 454
SLATE VALLEY UUSD  17,500.00 264
Quary Valley Unified USD  17,500.00 294
NORTHERN MOUNTAIN VALLEY UUSD  17,500.00 145
THETFORD  17,500.00 210
ORLEANS SOUTHWEST UESD  17,500.00 244
Wells Spring Unified USD  17,500.00 
ADDISON CENTRAL USD #55  17,530.00 400
Twin Valley Unified SD  17,600.00 213
NORWICH  17,668.00 353
MISSISQUOI VALLEY SD  18,000.00 677
BARRE UUSD  18,000.00 801
MAPLE RUN USD  18,000.00 760
STOWE  18,000.00 415
ELMOREMORRISTOWN USD  18,000.00 344
RUTLAND TOWN  18,000.00 378
WINDHAM  18,200.00 22
RUTLAND CITY  18,400.00 325
MT. ANTHONY UHSD 14  18,500.00 331
Paine Mountain SD  18,500.00 305
Echo Valley Community SD  18,500.00 121
ALBURGH  18,640.00 197
Rochester Stockbridge Unified SD  18,687.00 97
West River Union Education District  18,928.00 
MARLBORO  18,928.00 92
WINDHAM SOUTHEAST UUSD  19,000.00 278
BURLINGTON  19,000.00 560
ST. JOHNSBURY  19,000.00 722
VERNON  19,000.00 189
LudlowMt. Holly Unified USD  19,000.00 100
CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS UUSD  19,093.00 141
First Branch Unified SD  19,293.00 152
RIVER VALLEYS UNIFIED SD  19,383.00 90
Windsor Central Unified USD  19,680.00 285
HARWOOD USD #60  19,743.00 300
Taconic and Green Regional SD  19,800.00 308
White River Unified District  19,900.00 171
OTTER VALLEY USD #53  19,900.00 453
ARLINGTON  20,000.00 
MILL RIVER USD #52  20,000.00 150
BRIGHTON  20,000.00 
ADDISON NORTHWEST USD #54  20,450.00 300
RIVENDELL INTERSTATE SCHOOL  20,500.00 122
MT. ABRAHAM USD  20,542.00 420
LINCOLN SD  20,542.00 70
SOUTH BURLINGTON  20,739.00 443
SOUTH HERO  20,895.00 141
ESSEX WESTFORD ECUUSD  21,000.00 300
ENOSBURGH RICHFORD UUSD  21,000.00 212
TROY  21,000.00 193
ORANGE SOUTHWEST UUSD  21,072.00 345
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY USD #56  21,077.00 754
SPRINGFIELD  21,300.00 290
HARTFORD  21,500.00 257
CANAAN  21,500.00 
MT. ASCUTNEY SD  21,878.00 282
WEATHERSFIELD  21,878.00 
HARTLAND  21,878.00 282
BARSTOW USD #49  21,950.00 199
ROCKINGHAM  22,000.00 197
SHARON  22,020.00 171
WOLCOTT  22,500.00 121
Kingdom East Unified USD  22,827.00 303
DANVILLE  23,000.00 180
LOWELL  23,000.00 86
CHARLESTON  23,000.00 121
JAY/WESTFIELD JOINT ELEM. DISTRICT  23,000.00 81
ORLEANS CENTRAL UESD  23,000.00 175
TWINFIELD USD 33  25,000.00 200
CABOT  25,000.00 100
Caledonia Cooperative Unified USD  25,000.00 148
PEACHAM  25,000.00 66
NEWPORT TOWN  25,000.00 135
Mettawee School Distirct  25,300.00 140
NEWPORT CITY  25,500.00 330
WASHINGTON CENTRAL UUSD  25,626.00 203
COVENTRY  29,000.00 127
WESTMINSTER  30,000.00 187
     
Mean  19,435.79   273.51 
Median  19,000.00   235.00 
Correlation     -0.26

A complete understanding of the differences in costs among elementary schools would require a school-by-school analysis of budgets, staffing, and programming. Such an analysis should be part of any statewide school improvement plan.

Comments

4 responses to “School Spending: Highs and Lows”

  1. Betsy Brigham

    I appreciate this overview. The facts you summarize here fly in the face of the current push to consolidate. The gov’ and legislature’s narrative is Act 46 all over again: taxpayers revolt over high property taxes, and elected officials respond with a massive consolidation plan. There may be good reasons for some consolidation but there is no urgency. The only immediate urgency is to lower costs. Forced consolidation as described in all of the proposals on the table will lead to higher costs in the short run, and who knows about the long run.

  2. jimlengel

    Betsy, thanks for your comment on the school cost research. I can’t agree with you more.

    You’d think they’d learn that “consolidation” is not the answer. It does not save money. The way the Vermont legislature did it, it only created more administrative units, which in the long run will cost more money. It led to little or no school improvement.

    And my data on school size and costs seem to show that closing small schools will not save much money, at neither high school nor elementary levels.
    In fact if we closed all of our schools with fewer than 100 students — all 49 of them, with their 3300 students —and simply sent them home, we’d cut our expenses by about $69 million — a tiny proportion (4%) of our $1,600 million school expense. But then we’d have to find and pay for new places for those 3300 students. And transport them to their new schools. So we would not save much at all.

    More disturbing to me from this analysis is the prima facie inequity in spending that seems to persist in spite of all the tinkering of the past few years. A student in one school might benefit from only $12,000 of public resources, while another enjoys twice that. I did not realize until I gathered and examined the data that the range of spending per student remained so wide. This does not seem fair.

    I’ll continue to uncover information that helps us to understand how the system actually works, and to suggest ways it might be improved..

  3. Betsy Brigham

    Hello again,
    I keep returning to these figures– excellent resource. Right now I’m trying to disaggregate elementary from HS for the handful of PK-12 schools. Blue Mtn’s figures on student #s and cost seem accurately separated. The other 4 schools (Cabot, Twinfield, Craftsbury, Danville) seem off (I know the student numbers are off) but I don’t know how to figure out what the actual numbers should be. Do you have any insight into this?

  4. jimlengel

    Betsy, we will never know the exact per-student spending school-by-school, because the districts don’t report it that way. They report spending by district, separated for K-6 and for 7-12. But not school-by-school. In addition, K-12 schools like Blue Mountain, Twinfield, Cabot, and Craftsbury combine the elementary and secondary amounts in their reports. I had to look up separately the K-6 and 7-12 enrollments in these places to make an estimate of the costs. Tell me what you are trying to find out, and I’ll see if I can help you.

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