Union School Districts

16 V.S.A. § 713 (Act 176 of 2022)(Designation of districts as union school district, recording by Secretary of State) provides the process by which union school districts become a body politic and corporate with the powers incident to a municipal corporation. Unlike other municipal districts, the certification of votes for union school districts are filed with the Agency of Education, specifically the Secretary of Education.

Process

Within 45 days after the vote or 15 days after an unsuccessful vote to reconsider the original vote under 17 V.S.A. § 2661, whichever is later, the clerk of each district voting on the proposal to establish a union school district shall certify the results of the vote to the Secretary of Education.

The Secretary of Education shall designate the newly formed district as a union school district; and shall so certify to the Secretary of State, who shall record such certification. Upon recording by the Secretary of State, the union school district (1) becomes a body politic and corporate with the powers incident to a municipal corporation; (2) is known by the name or number given in the Secretary of Education's certificate and by that name or number may sue and be sued; and (3) may hold and convey real and personal estate for the use of the district.

A certified copy of the Secretary of Education's certification, as recorded in the Office of the Secretary of State, is required to be filed by the Secretary of State in the office of the clerk of each member district of a new union elementary or high school district and with the town clerk of each town within a new unified union school district no later than 14 days after the date the Secretary of Education certified the existence of the union district to the Secretary of State. The clerk of each school district or town will receive a certified copy from the following address:

Vermont Office of the Secretary of State
Vermont State Archives & Records Administration
1078 U.S. Route 2, Middlesex
Montpelier, VT 05633-7701

Districts Formed Through Municipal Charter Process

Some school districts, based on the date of formation, were granted charters of incorporation by the Vermont General Assembly. For more information, please see Vermont Municipalities: An Index to their Charters and Special Acts (1986).