Act No. 66 Page 1 of 2
2023
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the General Assembly. It
is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be exhaustive. It has been prepared by the
staff of the Office of Legislative Counsel without input from members of the General Assembly. It is not
intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 66 (H. 461). An act relating to making miscellaneous changes in education laws
Subjects: Education; home study; National Guard tuition; uniform chart of
accounts; standards for student performance; ethnic and social equity standards;
union school districts
This act makes several miscellaneous changes to Vermont education laws.
• Secs. 1–3 of this act permanently suspend implementation of the Shared
School District Data Management System, as required under 2018 (Sp. Sess.)
Acts and Resolves No. 11, as amended, while allowing continued support for
any existing or new adopters of the system within the confines of the existing
contract.
• Sec. 4 of this act adds a benefit category to the National Guard Tuition Benefit
Program under 16 V.S.A. § 2857. This section allows the amount of in-state
tuition charged by the University of Vermont to be used for courses at a non-
Vermont approved postsecondary education institution when the degree
program sought is not offered in Vermont.
• Sec. 5 of this act makes several amendments to Vermont’s home study
program under 16 V.S.A. § 166b, including the repeal of the ability of the
Secretary of Education to order a hearing if the Secretary has concerns about
the home study program.
• Sec. 6 of this act extends certain dates for the Vermont Ethnic and Social
Equity Standards Advisory Working Group created under 2019 Acts and
Resolves No. 1 (Act 1). Specifically, this section:
o extends the cessation date of the Working Group from July 1, 2023, to
September 1, 2023;
o extends the date by which the Working Group shall submit
recommendations to the State Board of Education regarding standards
for student performance from December 12, 2022, to June 30, 2023;
and
o extends the date by which the State Board of Education shall consider
adopting ethnic and social equity studies standards into standards for
student performance from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2023.
• Sec. 7 of this act creates the Act 1 Technical Advisory Group to provide
ongoing assistance regarding the work of the Ethnic and Social Equity
Standards Advisory (Act 1) Working Group after the Act 1 Working Group
ceases to exist on September 1, 2023. Its membership is composed of a subset
VT LEG #370894 v.2
Act No. 66 Page 2 of 2
2023
of the Act 1 Working Group’s current membership as of August 31, 2023, and
ceases to exist on January 31, 2024.
• Secs. 9–11 of this act make amendments to the sections governing the number
of signatures required on a nominating petition for a union school district
board member position under 16 V.S.A. chapter 11. Specifically, when 60
signatures are required for a nominating petition, this section adds the
alternative ability to collect signatures from one percent of the legal voters
residing in a proposed or current union school district. The candidate would
only need to obtain 60 signatures or the signatures of one percent of the legal
voters residing in the union school district, not both.
Effective Date: Multiple effective dates, beginning on June 14, 2023
VT LEG #370894 v.2


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 16-2857, 16-166b
As Passed By the House -- Official: 16-2857, 16-166b
As Passed By the House -- Unofficial: 16-2857, 16-166b
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 16-2857, 16-166b, 16-711, 16-730, 16-748
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 16-2857, 16-166b, 16-711, 16-730, 16-748
As Enacted: 16-2857, 16-166b, 16-711, 16-730, 16-748