Act 73—Vermont’s landmark education reform bill passed in July 2025—calls for a complete redistricting of the state’s public school system. By July 2028, the current patchwork of 119 districts will be replaced with fewer, larger, and more balanced ones, each serving between 4,000 and 8,000 students.
The goal is to improve funding fairness, educational equity, and logistical efficiency. But with the state’s official School District Redistricting Task Force still in its early phases, questions remain about how this process will actually unfold.
To help Vermonters visualize what’s coming, FYIVT created a full sample map with School District Builder Report that meets every criterion outlined in Act 73—before any official proposal has been made. The result is a clean, data-compliant plan that avoids common redistricting pitfalls and may offer a valuable reference point as the process moves forward. (You can try it here yourself)
What Act 73 Requires
The law mandates that each new district:
- Serve between 4,000 and 8,000 students
- Be contiguous and logistically feasible
- Maintain demographic and financial equity
- Avoid “donut” configurations (where one district wraps around another)
- Preserve community stability where possible
- Minimize the need for excessive transportation or upheaval
In short: the new map must work on paper, in practice, and across political divides.
A Sample Map That Already Works
Using 2023–2024 ADM data and the state’s district-building tools, FYIVT created a sample redistricting map with nine proposed regions:
| Region | Est. Students | Counties Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Chittenden South | ~7,100 | Burlington, South Burlington, Shelburne |
| Chittenden North | ~7,300 | Essex, Williston, Milton, Winooski, etc. |
| Washington Core | ~5,000 | Montpelier, Barre City, Barre Town |
| Central Rural | ~7,000 | Remaining Washington + Orange |
| Northwest Rural | ~6,000 | Franklin, Grand Isle |
| Northeast Kingdom | ~6,500 | Orleans, Essex, Caledonia |
| Upper Valley | ~7,200 | Windsor, Eastern Orange |
| Rutland | ~7,100 | Rutland County |
| Bennington–Windham | ~7,600 | Bennington and Windham Counties |
Every district meets the legal population size. Each avoids geographic distortion. High-value towns are grouped in ways that prevent tax havens, and lower-wealth regions are not overloaded. The result is a map that hits the fiscal and logistical sweet spot Act 73 demands.
What’s Happening With the State’s Official Task Force?
The School District Redistricting Task Force held its first meeting on August 1, 2025. Co-chaired by Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick and Rep. Edye Graning, the group reviewed Act 73 and began learning how to use the state’s redistricting software.
As of now, no official maps have been proposed.
Early discussion revealed concern about Chittenden County’s outsize influence, with one member calling it “a problem child” and warning that “every model we run ends up with Chittenden swallowing smaller towns.” Another floated the idea of a “ring-style” district around Montpelier, only to be reminded that such configurations are explicitly banned.
The meeting focused on gathering data and laying groundwork. In contrast, the sample map published by FYIVT has already been tested and verified against the law’s constraints.
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A Hidden Threat to Small Schools
One quiet but significant aspect of Act 73 is the way it pressures small schools, both public and private. The law includes minimum class size requirements—such as 10 students in Grade 1, 12 in Grades 2–5, and 18 in high school—that will likely result in closures or consolidations for schools that fall short.
The FYIVT map does attempt to protect rural and geographically isolated areas—especially in the Northeast Kingdom, Franklin County, and Central Vermont. But realistically, many small schools may not survive unless communities organize to support them directly.
For towns hoping to preserve their schools, early awareness may make all the difference. Small private schools may want to begin planning for long-term financial self-reliance. Towns hoping to preserve their local public schools may need to work with neighbors to build regional support before redistricting decisions are finalized.
Financial Balance: Better Than the State’s Got So Far
One of Act 73’s most important goals is equalizing financial burden. This means:
- No districts should be unfairly wealthy with low student counts.
- No rural areas should be forced to support disproportionately large enrollments without a comparable tax base.
The sample map created by FYIVT performs well on all counts:
- Chittenden South (Burlington, SoBu, Shelburne) has high grand list wealth—but also high ADM, preventing freeloading.
- Chittenden North contains middle-income towns and balances Winooski and Milton with Williston and Essex.
- NEK and Franklin districts cap Average Daily Membership (ADM) at reasonable levels, shielding them from collapse.
- The GL/ADM ratio across all 9 regions stays within a 2:1 range—tight enough to avoid both tax havens and high-burden zones.
Simply put, the map’s financial distribution is already more balanced than anything the state has offered.
[Editor’s note: ADM is basically the average number of students enrolled in a school or district per day over the course of a school year.]
A Map That Works. A Process That’s Just Getting Started.
The redistricting process is underway. The law is in effect. But as of August 6, the state has no maps, no drafts, and no clear front-runner model. Meanwhile, FYIVT’s sample map meets the law, balances the numbers, and avoids every redistricting trap outlined in Act 73.
It’s not a proposal. It’s an example.
And as towns, teachers, and parents wait to see what the Task Force produces, this one shows what’s possible—with the right data, and no politics.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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