State of things
Last duty
Health commissioner steps down, state shares education plan details
Area cops attend funeral for longtime Shelburne police officer
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Volume 54 Number 7
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February 13, 2025
Town budget tax increase mitigated by school, grand list
Deep thoughts
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY BRIANA BRADY
Words from Sam Sanders’ poem “Rock River” shown with art by Tom Wright, part of the new outdoor art exhibit “Winterdeep” at All Souls Interfaith Gathering. See story, page 9.
The Shelburne selectboard has approved an operating budget of $12.5 million and a capital budget of $2.8 million. Of the $12.5 million in the operating budget, the town expects to raise $9.2 million through property taxes. As it stands, this means town property taxes will go up by 3.75 percent, slightly higher than the 3.25 percent raise the board had previously been considering. Town officials attribute the increase to the likelihood the police department will be able to fill one of its vacant positions. At the Jan. 28 selectboard meeting, board members said because the school budget is decreasing its tax rates, there was some room to
reduce proposed budget cuts without over-burdening taxpayers. If passed, the Champlain Valley School District budget is expected to bring down school-associated property taxes by around 4 percent. Shelburne has also seen an increase to its grand list this year, easing the burden on taxpayers. “The gift from the heavens that we’ve received from the school budget this year is that we are going to see a decrease in overall taxes related to the school budgeting,” board member Matt Wormser said.
Capital Budget Town officials do not plan on using property taxes to fund any of the capital improvements planned See BUDGET on page 12
School district revisits its search and seizure procedures BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
Champlain Valley School District has decided against drafting a specific sanctuary school policy in response to changes at the federal level that now allow immigration enforcement agents
to make arrests in schools and other sensitive locations such and hospitals or churches. According to superintendent Adam Bunting, the district is taking steps to help students and families know what their rights are and offer whatever protections it can. In lieu of a new policy,
the school district has updated its search and seizure procedures specific to non-local law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. “I think it’s important that we help our students who may be new Americans, who may be recent immigrants, understand what their
rights are, help them understand that they’re an important part of our community and work with them in a time when they’re feeling really vulnerable,” Bunting said. Since the Trump administration announced last month that it would be changing the federal
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policy, schools and districts across the country have been grappling with how to respond. In Vermont, the Winooski School District announced it would be considering a new sancSee CVSD on page 16