What's on the School District's Ballot This Year?

Kelly Bowen, CVSD School Board Finance Committee Chair, has shared the following on Front Porch Forum in each CVSD town. It's the first in a series of posts to help inform voters about the proposed budget for 2022-2023. We'll re-post them on our blog for those that might want to view them again.

Dear CVSD Community Members and Voters,

FY23 budget season is upon us. As Finance Committee Chair, I am pleased to report that the CVSD FY23 budget was developed with our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion of all learners. As we continue our COVID-19 recovery efforts, our focus on social-emotional and educational supports remains a top priority.

I know personal time is tight and attention spans are limited, so I’ve crafted a series of simple posts to keep you informed. Look for bi-weekly updates on Front Porch Forum and in our school news outlets until 2/24.

Voters can cast early ballots or for those who prefer to vote in person, TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022, is your chance to vote on the 2022-2023 proposed CVSD Budget and school-related Articles. (Articles and Ballot Questions refer to the same thing.)

In this post, we’ll share a few budget highlights and explain the standard Articles VII-IX, which appear yearly on the ballot.

• Article VII - The BUDGET QUESTION: to approve an operating budget for the six schools of the 4000-student Champlain Valley School District for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2022. The proposed budget is $89,397,762, an increase of 4.8% from the current year.

The 4.8% budget increase is reflective of the needed addition of diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals as well as increases in salaries and healthcare costs.

• Article VIII – The FUND BALANCE QUESTION: this question requests permission from the taxpayers to spend reserved money to offset budget increases. FY23 Article VIII asks: Shall the voters of the Champlain Valley School District authorize the Board of School Directors to allocate $1,000,000 of the school district's current fund balance as revenue for the 2022-2023 operating budget and assign the remaining balance as revenue for future budgets.

• Article IX - The BUS QUESTION: This question asks taxpayers to approve the District’s need to borrow funds for bus purchases. The article gives the District authorization to borrow up to $210,000 to maintain our fleet. This year it is proposed that we purchase two new buses to replace old buses. (These older models are 12 & 15 years old and each have more than 170,000 miles on the odometer).

As Finance Committee Chair, I appreciate and share the public’s concern for fiscal conservatism. Please reach out to me: kbowen@cvsdvt.org if I can be of assistance. I look forward to the continued educational and fiscal success of the Champlain Valley School District. On behalf of the CVSD School Board, we appreciate your generous support through what has been another extraordinary year.

Kind regards,

Kelly A. Bowen, CVSD Finance Committee Chair

Please join the CVSD INFORMATIONAL MEETING via Zoom on Monday, February 28, 2022, at 5:00. ZOOM meeting information: https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget or directly: https://cvsdvt-org.zoom.us/j/88634652241 Meeting ID: 886 3465 2241 - Passcode: cvsd11

Phone Participation: 1-646-876-9923 - Passcode: 854788


More information:

Budget page www.cvsdvt.org/budget
Annual Report https://www.cvsdvt.org/Page/602
2022-2023 Budget Flyer https://bit.ly/CVSDBudgetFlyerFY23
Budget FAQ’s https://bit.ly/CVSDBudgetFY23FAQs

See the Annual Warning on the budget page of our website for all of the ballot articles. We encourage all eligible residents in Champlain Valley School District towns to vote on March 1st or earlier.