(PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
100% … Elementary Principal, Lance Thorp, stands for a picture with 4th-grade student, Michael Davidson, after receiving a perfect score in State Math Standardized Testing.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Board of Education met on Tuesday, May 13, to address a long agenda that included financial approvals, staffing changes, and preparations for the 2025-2026 upcoming school year.
Among the early recognitions, fourth-grade student Michael Davidson was commended for earning the highest math score in his grade; a 100% on State Standardized Math Testing this year.
The board started off by approving the financial reports for April 2025 and reviewed the district’s Five-Year Forecast, presented by Carla Rice.
The current fiscal year reported a loss of $481,977 dollars for Montpelier. The school is reliant on additional funding from the State, totaling 66% of their total revenue.
Their revenue is not expected to increase much over the coming five years, whereas their expenditures are projected to grow by millions of dollars.
Rice closed the presentation with hopes that the final HB96 Biennial Budget Bill will continue to change to better favor schools, as the current version presented in the meeting was “the worst-case scenario.”
This is what she largely based her findings on while generating the fiscal report. She also announced that the bond issue for the K-12 building will be fully paid off on December 1, 2025.
With 0.9 mills being levied for this project, the millage is expected to roll off the tax duplicate at the end of the year. The additional 0.5 mill maintenance levy, used for the same building, will also be removed during this time.
The board accepted several generous donations and transferred a total of $20,000 from the General Fund to the Athletic Fund.
Several staffing actions were taken, including the approval of CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention) training for both certified and classified staff, contract renewals, and supplemental contracts for the 2025-2026 school year.
Also approved was the hiring of Andrea Mull as Junior High Mathematics teacher. Mull brings a master’s degree and a decade of experience to the district. The board accepted the resignation of Joseph Stefanelli, a district substitute, effective July 31, 2025.
In preparation for the upcoming school year, the Board adopted an updated Special Education Model policies and procedures.
They also approved participation in federal education programs including Title I, Title II-A, Title IV-A, and the National School Lunch Program.
Other notable business included seeking price quotes for milk and trash pickup for the 2025-2026 school year.
The K-6 grade fees were set for $35 per grade, and the list of graduates for the Montpelier High School Class of 2025 was officially approved. Updates to the Faculty Handbook and Public Library Budget were also passed.
The public portion of the meeting ended when the board moved into executive session at 6:17 p.m. for the purpose of discussing an ongoing staffing topic.