The 802 Ed

What's going on in Vermont's education policy and practice

Welcome back!

This issue covers many topics that are immediately useful like how to keep your special education staff from up and leaving, the latest data on the job market for teachers, and an opportunity to join a pilot program that support youth mental health. Be sure to check out the latest in Burlington High School’s search for its next leader!

New to the lingo? At the suggestion of a reader we now include a guide to common abbreviations after all the news.

- Steven Berbeco, Editor

School Leadership

Bold Decision Barometer. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review introduces a planning tool for making difficult professional choices based on our past: “Looking back at our decision-making history allows us to see patterns that we might not otherwise notice.”

Antidotes to “Activist” Board Members. School Administrator dives into the question of board subcommittees that “risk board micro-management,” and offers three factors that can help keep everyone in their lane. This was a popular item in last issue, so we are including it again for readers who may have missed it.

Snow Snakes. Shelburne Farms recently hosted an opportunity to learn about the Abenaki Snow Snakes game, a fun opportunity to highlight Vermont’s Indigenous culture.

Budget Vote Fails, Citing Underspending. Voters in Barre turned down a nearly $54 million budget last week amidst cries of “insubordinate behavior” and other barbs from board members. Said the superintendent: “Back to the drawing board.”

More Morning Meetings. Edutopia highlighted several benefits of the school-wide morning meeting, including the often overlooked opportunities for administrators and students to connect outside of a disciplinary meeting.

School-Based Health Services. Education Commission of the States recently published a policy brief on state-by-state trends in student health, highlighting Community Schools that can act like neighborhood hubs for many equity-based services.

Child Care Strings Attached. Recent federal legislation supporting billions of dollars for semiconductor companies sets the unusual requirement that companies explain how they will provide child care for their workforce. But Elliot Haspel writes in Fast Company that it’s not a great idea after all.

Stopping the Special Ed Exodus. Principal offers nearly a dozen short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to help keep special education staff from leaving.

Check Those Crawl Spaces. A high school in Massachusetts figured out why its electricity bill had been so high: a staff member had allegedly set up a crypto-mining operation underneath the school.

Tuitioning Explained. VSBA’s president walks through the finances behind Vermont’s education spending system in this recent Youtube post.

Heads Up, Vermont. Several states are taking innovative steps to support their students. Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:

• New York City is looking to expand access for youth mental health care by licensing school psychologists to practice outside schools.

• California’s state college system recently closed a loophole to prevent students from taking fully online degrees and avoid residency requirements.

• Washington State supports families with an education ombudsperson to respond to problems and complaints that can’t (or won’t) be handled by districts.

School Shootings in 2023. Education Week’s tracker reports eight school shootings in 2023. “On March 6, a student on the school tennis courts was shot and injured by a stray bullet from an incident near campus in Amarillo, Texas.” Total school shootings in 2022: 51. 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: Do you think that the legislature will go a step further than proposing to restrict funding private schools with public money, and extend this to child care programs that access Act 166 funding? The responses were more than twice more strongly in favor of The focus will stay on K-12 schools than Child care will be included in the final bill. Let’s see what happens next!

This issue’s survey question: Which positions will be hardest to fill this spring? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.

✅ Teachers

✅ Special education staff

✅ Counselors and mental health clinicians

Job Listings for School Leaders

Superintendent. Addison Central School District is recruiting its next senior leader, a data-driven decision maker who is skilled at bringing together the school community to improve student outcomes. We are looking for a proven leader with a record of prioritizing equity and who can demonstrate an understanding of rural communities. Closing date for applications is March 28, 2023. Sponsored by McPherson & Jacobson

Assistant Principal. Harwood Union High School is seeking a team player who will work creatively and collaboratively to cultivate our inclusive community, strengthen the robust academic program in our school, and promote a positive school climate for our school community. Sponsored by Harwood Unified Union School District

Superintendent. The newest, most state-of-the-art school building located in a district where students speak more than a dozen languages, that’s Winooski and their board is looking for its next leader. Check out the list of desired criteria developed through community input, a timeline for the recruitment process, and of course a link to apply. Sponsored by 802 Ed

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 1,800+ readers. Sponsored by 802 Ed

Looking for a Change? With so many open education positions, there are sometimes unusual opportunities. For example, recruitment has opened for the next principal/teacher of the K-12 school and its few dozen students in the village of Seldovia, Alaska, population ~200. Go, Sea Otters!

Update on the Education Market

And just like that, about 45 days ago someone dropped a racing flag and the number of positions for teachers across the state started to climb, climb, climb. That bump up about three weeks ago in the graph below is when a district flooded the market by posting 200+ elementary school teaching positions just before Valentine’s Day. (Love you, too, Burlington!)

The number of open teaching positions is about third of the entire education market in Vermont at this point, which points to heavy recruitment on the part of schools and a buyer’s market that favors teachers who may be shopping for a new opportunity. Music teacher openings across the state have more than doubled in the last month, for example.

Good news for principals is that it’s probably not as cut-throat as this time last year when there were about 40% more openings for roughly the same pool of possible teacher applicants.

The chart below tracks the number of teacher openings in the 90 days prior to publication, presented as data points and no trend line this time. Data from AOE’s Aithent Licensing System.

Principal’s Office

Principal and Assistant Principal positions are opening up and getting filled around the state. Here is a graphic representation of the total number of positions that have opened (28) since the start of the calendar year, and the number of positions that have been filled (9) since then. Data from VPA.

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

Every issue we highlight school leaders who are making a change – congratulations!

• Polly Rico, currently instructional coach at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, will be principal this summer. She will take over from Brett Blanchard.

• Julie Kittell, currently science teacher at Missisquoi Valley Union Middle and High School, will be assistant principal at Enosburg Falls Middle School this summer.

These colleagues received administrator licensure from AOE since the last issue of the 802 Ed. Data from AOE’s Aithent Licensing System.

• Florencio Ricohermoso • Principal

Do you know a colleague who has made a recent move? Let us know!

Grants & Opportunities

Green Mountain Job & Retention Program. Graduating Vermont-based college students may be eligible for up to $5,000 in loan repayment for working for an organization in the Green Mountain State. Applications open March 1.

U.S. Attorney Offers School Presentations. Schools can request a 60-90 minute interactive presentation from the U.S. Attorney’s Office titled United Against Hate, where students what hate crimes laws exist and why, and how to report potential hate crimes or discrimination to law enforcement.

Business Assistance for Child Care. DCF recently announced technical assistance for child care programs through a partnership with Let’s Grow Kids.

Meeting the Moment. The Barr Foundation recently released details of a $100,000 grant competition to join a year-long high school transformation community of practice. Deadline is March 15.

Trauma Informed Care Training. The Free Masons of Vermont and the Grand Lodge of Vermont are offering a two-day Mental Health and Trauma Informed Care training specifically for educators, at no cost, in Burlington. Limited to 60 participants. March 14 and 15.

Looking for an Earmark? Senator Welch’s office is accepting Congressionally Directed Spending requests, including the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Education and Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. Deadline is March 16.

Motivating and Engaging Students. Education Week is offering a webinar on mentoring programs, work-based learning experiences, and other ways schools are keeping their students on track. 2pm on March 16.

Preventing Targets School Violence. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center will present its research on averting school attacks in a presentation at the University of Vermont. March 16, 9am - 1pm.

Social, Organizational, and Academic Assistance. DAIL recently released an RFP for a contractor to support college students served by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, up to $325,000 per year. Deadline is March 21.

Pilot Program for Mental Health Support. The Vermont Child Psychiatry Access Program is looking to expand services to Vermont schools in late 2023, helping school-based mental healthcare providers and staff manage students with developmental, behavioral, or mental health complaints. Deadline is March 22.

United Way Funding for Addison County Programs. United Way of Addison County recently released a Request for Letters of Interest for education programs in Addison County, with grants up to $22,500 per year. Deadline is March 22.

Teacher of the Year Nominations. AOE has opened nominations for Teacher of the Year, an opportunity to highlight the achievements of currently practicing and licensed teachers in the Green Mountain State. Deadline is March 23.

Upgrade the Work Out. The National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils recently announced a competition to bring three new fitness centers to Vermont’s schools, valued at $100k each, to “combat mental illness and childhood obesity.” Deadline is March 26. The application incorrectly states that this is for schools in Montana.

Communication and Collaboration with Specialists. All Learners Network is offering an in-person workshop on keeping shared data, regular reporting, and planning team members for intervention and IEP planning purposes. 8:30am - 11:30am, March 28.

Supporting Statewide PBIS. AOE published an RFP to coordinate “evidence-based practices that prevent and address challenging behaviors, and include implementing statewide PBIS.” Deadline is April 12.

Got a Great ELA Curriculum? AOE is looking for a contractor to develop an exemplar English Language Arts curriculum. Deadline is April 18.

In Case You Missed It

Vermont State University’s Libraries Keeping A Few Books. According to an update sent out last week, the “refined plan” is to keep anything checked out between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2022 and “deemed academically valuable,” estimated at less than 6% of the total holdings. Also slated to stay: children’s books available on a “‘take-a-book, leave a book’ honor system.”

Where Did All That Money Go? Close to $400 million in federal funds came into Vermont through the ESSER programs, and a recent report tracked who likely benefited the most from the spending and where school leaders put most of the money: social emotional learning, among other areas.

Child Care in the Upper Valley. University of New Hampshire recently released a research brief on early childhood education programs in Vermont and New Hampshire. The good news? Vermont has positioned itself better than the Granite State when it comes to stabilizing the sector.

Seahorses Starting Over Again. Burlington High School’s search for a new principal got a restart after the three finalists were interviewed. Instead of hiring one of them, the district plans to conduct another search, inviting only one of the original applicants to continue with the 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: AOE Agency of Education, CDD Child Development Division, DAIL Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, DCF Department for Children and Families, DPS Department of Public Safety, ED U.S. Department of Education, RFP Request for Proposals, NEASC New England Association of Schools and Colleges, PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, VPA Vermont Principals Association, VSA Vermont Superintendents Association, VSBA Vermont School Board Association.

Special bonus for making it to the bottom: The length of Vermont’s border with Canada is approximately 818,182 bananas long. Yes, the Internet has given us a banana converter.