ORWELL — Orwell voters will go to the polls on April 15 to consider a revised fiscal year 2026 Slate Valley Unified Union School District (SVUUSD) that is $463,256 less than the spending plan voters rejected, 1,181-720, on Town Meeting Day.

The SVUUSD delivers PreK-12 public education to students in Orwell, Benson, Castleton, Fair Haven, Hubbardton and West Haven. District voters on March 4 rejected a proposed FY26 spending plan of $32,086,270 that would have resulted in education property tax decreases in four of the district’s six towns — including in Orwell.

Officials have gone back to the drawing board and made a series of cuts that include:

• $200,000 for buildings and grounds.

• $150,130 that would have allowed SVUUSD to fill a vacant school nurse position. Instead, plans call for the spot to remain vacant and for the Benson and Orwell schools to share a nurse.

• $84,480 for professional development.

• A $34,000 savings in the replacement costs for the Castleton School principal.

• $25,646 for cafeteria aides.

• $10,000 for software.

The revised budget of $31,623,010 reflects an 3.69% increase compared to this year, a 3.61% increase in per-pupil costs, but an education property tax decrease in all six SVUUSD communities.

For Orwell, it would result in an estimated homestead education property tax rate of 93.6 cents per $100 in property value — a 4.17% drop from this year, according to SVUUSD Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell.

“My hope would be that this budget would pass,” she said during a phone interview. “We’ve heard a lot of community concerns over the past couple of weeks and have met individually with a lot of different community members. We know the primary concern is the amount of taxes that folks pay in Vermont.”

At the same time, Olsen-Farrell notes the SVUUSD is the 11th-lowest of the state’s 119 school districts in the category of per-pupil spending ($11,162 per child). The statewide average is $12,881. Closer to home, the Addison Northwest School District is at $15,132 and Addison Central is at $16,099, according to information supplied by SVUUSD.

“People don’t want to compare us to others, but it’s a statewide funding system, so it absolutely matters what other districts are spending,” she said.

As has been the case for most Vermont districts, some of the major FY26 budget drivers for SVUUSD are employee wage increases, an 11.9% jump in health insurance premiums, and a need to address deferred maintenance in buildings and grounds.

Farrell-Olson pointed to the district’s recent efforts to cut expenses, including reducing SVUUSD’s footprint from six to five buildings, decreasing staffing by around 30 positions during the past seven years, and consolidating bus routes, technology, maintenance services and athletics.

But the district has also faced tough financial headwinds. Farrell-Olson noted SVUUSD has seen an increase in students with greater needs, inadequate mental health supports, and an increase in the need for professional development for inexperienced educators.

She hopes voters support the reduced budget proposal on April 15.

“We think this budget takes into account taxpayers’ feelings as they relate to spending, but we’ve also tried not to totally strip the district of all the resources we need. It’s a balancing act, for sure,” Farrell-Olson said.

District officials will hold an informational meeting on the revised budget on Monday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Fair Haven Union High School Band Room. And at 5 p.m., also at the high school, area legislators will be in hand to provide insights and answer questions on school funding issues.

For more information on SVUUSD budget matters, go to slatevalleyunified.org.

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].