What about turning your local public school into an Independent School or Town Academy? (Vermont law does not accommodate Charter Schools). This idea comes up a lot during brainstorming, but the Department of Education does not have resources to assist in this process, and most consultants hired during the consolidation exploration phase are not eager to explore this direction. Fortunately we can get you started.

In 1998 The Winhall School in Winhall, VT was closed by a vote of the taxpayers and reopened to all of its community's children as an Approved Independent School. The process and challenges have been documented for you here so that you may have a meaningful discussion in your community.

Communities faced with closing small schools due to rising costs or limited offerings have the option of "taking their school independent" and keeping their small community school. In Vermont our education statutes do not allow communities to both host a public school and provide school choice (tuitioning) to their families. By closing a public school, offering families school choice, and re-opening the community school as an Independent School you are thinking outside of the box and taking local control of education back into your community.