Who should pay for school upgrades in Vermont?

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Who should be responsible for paying for school upgrades in Vermont? That’s the question a new School Construction Task Force is digging into.

Many facilities are aging and many communities don’t have the tax base to fund multi-million dollar construction projects.

Since 2008, the state has had a moratorium on paying for new schools out of the Education Fund. But with new concerns about PCB p-contamination in the last few years, the task force is looking into the cost to repair them and how that work could be funded.

“Many of our school facilities are in dire straits and ultimately we want our students and staff to be in safe, healthy, engaging learning environments,” said Jill Briggs Campbell with the Vermont Agency of Education.

The group will meet over the next few months and will issue recommendations to Vermont lawmakers in January.

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