The 802 Ed
What's going on in Vermont's education policy and practice
Welcome back! A special thank-you to several readers who pitched in for a cup of coffee or more since last issue, including retired educators, a DEI consultant, a school-based clinician, and the executive director of a state-wide organization. Lifting a cup of Joe to you!
Check out my upcoming testimony on schools and mental health for Vermont’s House Committee on Education, 10 - 10:30 am, Wednesday, January 31.
This issue covers many topics that are immediately useful like the latest on education funding, therapy pods to support student mental health, and Vermont’s new mental health toolkit for schools. Be sure to check out the School Ambassador Fellowship program before the deadline flies by!
New to the lingo? At the suggestion of a reader we include a guide to common abbreviations, just scroll down past the news.
- Steven Berbeco, Editor
School Leadership
Territorial Impulse Control. Harvard Business Review suggests conversation starters and other approaches for when you know that you should be working as a team but, gosh darn it, you just want to tell everyone else to buzz off.
“Small Teaching.” HigherEdJobs pulls together a handful of teaching tips that are easy to implement and likely just as useful to K-12 teachers as college faculty.
Free College. WCAX reports on the recent announcement of free tuition at Vermont State University for Vermonters with an adjusted gross income less than $50,000.
Universal Mental Health Screening for Students. The House Committee on Human Services has a bill with more than a dozen co-sponsors that would require universal screening of students for anxiety, depression, and suicidality: H.816, An act relating to mental health screenings in school-age youth.
Breaking FERPA. Seven Days’ Alison Novak digs into a recent court ruling that releases student records, and possibly opens the door to requests for hazing, harassment and bullying investigations, disciplinary records, and more. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it.
School Safety, State-wide. Education Commission of the States published a review of programs across the country that are innovating to keep their kids safe.
Battling Isolation in College. Seven Days checks out student programs at several Vermont colleges that focus on mental health: “The college campus, once seen as a place where friendships formed easily, has become more isolating and divided.”
“Detrimental And Dangerous” Education Spending. VTDigger picks up the story of the dozens of education officials who are calling foul on Act 127, intended to promote funding equity across the state but in actuality incentivizing spending: “It is a miracle if we’re going to pass school budgets this year.”
“Not Intended As Free Money.” Chairs of Vermont’s Ways and Means and Finance committees published a hold up there, friend! letter to school boards: “If districts act solely in their own rational self-interest, those costs will be picked up by property taxes in neighboring towns. Most of us, regardless of the town we live in, can’t afford what it seems is happening in the education fund this year, and something will have to give.”
School Budgets Outlook. CVTSE ran the numbers on how Act 127 is anticipated to affect local education budgets in the next fiscal year with the recent change in the weighted count from Equalized Pupils to Long Term Weighted Average Daily Membership - now with updates based on FY24 data since FY25 budgets aren’t available yet.
Keeping Books on The Shelves. Seven Days reviews current legislation that would made it more challenging to ban books in Vermont’s school libraries.
Principal’s Guide to Reading Comprehension. Education Week reports on a recent national survey and what it can tell school leaders about helping kids learn to read.
Fix The Tests. The New York Times recently published an opinion piece about the problems of standardized testing - as well as policy recommendations for making the tests better. Gift link
“I Don’t Think It’s A Death Knell.” Seven Days covers Goddard College’s president defending the decision to drop residential classes and provide only on-line instruction.
School Protocol for Suicide Prevention. AOE, VDH, and DMH recently published a model protocol for suicide prevention and postvention - what to do after an event.
“Learn from Cabot.” In a VTDigger opinion piece, the principal of one of Vermont’s few preK-12 schools, lays out the benefits and many successes of a community-based school, and encourages readers to advocate to legislators for more innovation and fewer closures and consolidation.
Heads Up, Vermont. States are taking innovative steps to support their students and Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:
Utah’s governor took the unusual step of sending a letter to every school district asking teachers to remove students’ cellphones from class.
Several state have passed legislation requiring students learn media literacy, including how to spot disinformation.
School Shootings in 2024. Education Week’s tracker starts over again in the new year with three school shootings already in 2024. “On Jan. 11, a student was shot and injured by another student in the parking lot of Miami Northwestern Senior High in Miami, Fla., after a school basketball game.” Total school shootings in 2023: 38. As a reminder, DPS and AOE operate an anonymous school safety tip line for students, school staff, and their community: calling 1-844-SAFE4VT; texting SAFE4VT to 274637; or online at safe4vt.org. For questions about school safety training in Vermont, contact Rob Evans.
Reader Survey
In each issue we ask a survey question to get a sense of what is on our readers’ minds. Then, the following issue, we report back on what we learned.
Last issue we asked: What happened to the Secretary of Education search? The responses were most strongly in favor of Put it on hold until after the elections, then about equally divided between First, second, and third picks declined the offer and Forgot about it. The 802 Ed will not report on which option a State Board of Education member selected.
This issue’s survey question: How many school budget votes will fail this year? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.
✅ A majority of budgets.
✅ Just a few budgets.
✅ In a state-wide show of support for education, no school budget will fail.
Thank you to the North East Kingdom school leader who suggested that survey question. What’s on your mind? Suggest a survey question to find out how your colleagues respond in an upcoming issue of the 802 Ed!
Job Listings
Supercharge The Applicant Pool. The market for school staff in Vermont is fierce and it’s important to stand out when attracting quality candidates. Why get wedged in among thousands of open positions on SchoolSpring? Your opportunity can stand out in an upcoming issue of the 802 Ed, dropping into the Inbox of 2,200+ readers. Sponsored by 802 Ed
The Big List. Josh Czupryk compiles and publishes a monthly spreadsheet with more than 400 job opportunities for remote work in K-12 education.
Looking for a Change? With so many open education positions, there are sometimes unusual opportunities. For example, the U.S. Department of State is hiring its first Provost for the Foreign Service Institute, where diplomats go to learn more than 40 languages.
Thank The Team
You read it, you love it, and now is a good time to say thanks. Cover our coffee budget! Writing, editing, researching… all of that is caffeine driven. Choose this option and the extra energy will go to finding a few more updates to share.
From the Editor
The business world is full of metaphors to help explain the complicated relationships among organizations, finances, supply chains, and the most difficult to understand: people. For example, the “iceberg principle” describes a theory that we cannot see most of the data in a situation.
Mental health is in many ways an example of the iceberg principle for the education world in Vermont. We have the number of students (80k+), the number of licensed school counselors (200), and so on. But there is a lot we don’t know and can’t see.
For instance, we know that in 2021 about half of all the high school girls in Vermont reported poor mental health, and about one in five had made a suicide plan. But what we don’t know is what resources those kids had available to help them.
We know that last year, hundreds of school-aged kids visited an emergency department for suicidal ideation, poisoning, or other self-harm. High school youth who identify as LGBTQ+ were more than three times more likely to attempt suicide as compared to cis youth. But again, we don’t know who was there to identify the symptoms and help.
The education job market is aware of the iceberg and schools and other organizations are responding by hiring, and hiring some more, for counselors and related staff, with a steady uptick in posted openings that averages about more two positions per day in the past month.
The open question of course is who will fill these positions. What we need is a couple hundred mental health professionals to parachute in and start providing services. But even if they did, there wouldn’t be anywhere for them to live because of our housing crunch. Maybe they could camp out in the cafeteria?
Vermont’s upcoming entrance into the interstate counseling compact may provide some relief as license reciprocity increases the number of private therapists that we have access to. However, a recent lesson from the interstate nursing compact may predict further complications with this and several other interstate compacts under consideration: social work, occupational therapy, psychology, and more.
Advice to school leaders then is to hold on tight to the counselors and clinicians that you have, and hope that the warming days of spring and summer will melt the mental health iceberg faster than the end of the school year.
The chart below tracks the number of openings for counselors and similar staff in the 30 days prior to publication, presented as data points and a linear trend line. Data from SchoolSpring.
Pass It On
Like what you are reading? Hit the button below to send a copy to a colleague, friend, neighbor, your boss… whoever!
Colleagues on the Move
Congratulations to these colleagues who have received administrator licensure from AOE since the last issue of the 802 Ed! Data from AOE’s Aithent Licensing System.
Lilyana Auster • Superintendent
Benjamin Brownell • Superintendent
Gary Clark • Superintendent
Anthony Fontana • Superintendent
Brian Boardman • Principal
Monica Desrochers • Principal
Kelly O'Ryan • Principal
Stacey Tully • Principal
Do you know a colleague who has made a recent move? Let us know!
Grants & Opportunities
Educational Leader of the Year. VPA has opened nominations for the annual competition for Vermont Career Center Director of the Year; High School Principal of the Year; Middle Level Principal of the Year; National Distinguished Principal (elementary principal of the year); and Assistant Principals of the Year. Deadline is February 2.
Therapy Pods. The Mental Health Health Initiative is looking for a school or youth program interested in receiving a stand-alone unit for school based clinicians to meet with students in a private and confidential space.
School Ambassador Fellowship. The U.S. Department of Education is accepting applications for a one-year fellowship that engages school-based educators in development of policies that impact learning environments nationwide. Deadline is February 5. Editor’s note - I participated in the first cohort of this program and recommend it highly!
Making The Most of Flextime. NEASC is hosting a panel discussion of school leaders who created flex days within their programs. 9 - 10 am, February 6.
Students Board Member Networking. VSBA is hosting a virtual meeting to connect school boards’ student representatives. 6:30 - 7:30 pm, February 6.
Aspiring School Leaders. VPA is hosting an interactive session for educators interested in school leadership positions: applying, licensing, professional learning, and more. 3:30 - 4:30 pm, February 7. Deadline to register is February 5.
Curriculum Director of the Year. VTCLA has opened nominations for the annual competition with a quick, four-question form.
NEH PD 4U. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is offering nearly four dozen summer programs for K-12 teachers and higher education faculty, from Shakespeare to the Space Age and more. Deadline is March 5. Thanks to a Congressional liaison for the tip!
Two-Day Workshop on Bullying. The Grand Lodge of Vermont Freemasons is offering an in-person workshop on bullying prevention and conflict management for educators. Barre Elks Club, 8:30 am - 4 pm, March 7 - 8.
Superintendent of the Year. VSA has opened nominations for the annual competition, with the update that this year anyone can nominate a superintendent. Deadline is March 15.
Supporting Afterschool Programs. AOE has published an RFP seeking assistance with the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Deadline is March 18.
If You Missed It
New Year, New FAFSA. MyFutureVT reviews the recent changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a standard way to request financial aid for college.
Mental Health Systems Toolkit. AOE and DMH have published a reference document to connect schools with resources along eight core competencies.
Finalist List of Presidential Scholars. Congratulations to the nearly 100 high school seniors from Vermont who made the cut for the next stage in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program selection process.
The 802 Ed brings together the latest from Vermont's associations for principals, superintendents, and school board members, as well as state and national education agencies. We hope that you'll find something useful in each issue and welcome comments or suggestions for upcoming issues: editor@802ed.com.
Abbreviation list: AASA School Superintendents Association, ADM Average Daily Membership, AHS Agency of Human Services, AOE Agency of Education, CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDD Child Development Division, CVTSE Coalition for Vermont Student Equity, DAIL Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, DCF Department for Children and Families, DMH Department of Mental Health, DPS Department of Public Safety, ED U.S. Department of Education, FERPA Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children, NEASC New England Association of Schools and Colleges, PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, RFP Request for Proposals, SBE State Board of Education, VEHI Vermont Education Health Initiative, VPA Vermont Principals Association, VREC Vermont Rural Education Collaborative, VSA Vermont Superintendents Association, VSBA Vermont School Board Association, VTCLA Vermont Curriculum Leaders Association, VTSU Vermont State University.
Special bonus for making it to the bottom: Cruise the world with Drive and Listen, a website where you can drive local roads in more than four dozen cities. Added bonus, you can spin the dial and listen to local radio stations. Thanks for the tip, Daybreak!