Vermont 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vermont House Bill H0312 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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6	6	H.312 1
7	7	Introduced by Representatives Graning of Jericho, Arsenault of Williston, 2
8	8	Burrows of West Windsor, and Sibilia of Dover 3
9	9	Referred to Committee on 4
10	10	Date: 5
11	11	Subject: Education; State Board of Education; appointments; Secretary of 6
12	12	Education; gubernatorial appointments; advice and consent 7
13	13	Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to (1) create a 8
14	14	new appointment process for State Board of Education members by allowing 9
15	15	the Governor four appointments, the Senate Committee on Committees three 10
16	16	appointments, and the Speaker of the House three appointments; (2) prohibit 11
17	17	the Governor from reappointing an individual to the same position if the 12
18	18	Senate did not consent to the appointment; and (3) require the State Board of 13
19	19	Education to begin a robust national search for a new Secretary of Education 14
20	20	not later than 45 days after public notification of the resignation of the current 15
21	21	Secretary. 16
22	22	An act relating to the appointment of members of the State Board of 17
23	23	Education and the Secretary of Education 18 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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28	28	It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 1
29	29	Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 161 is amended to read: 2
30	30	§ 161. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; APPOINTMENT OF 3
31	31	MEMBERS; TERM; VACANCY 4
32	32	The State Board shall consist of ten 10 members, of which expertise or 5
33	33	experience as a principal, superintendent, teacher, school board member, 6
34	34	educator preparation program provider, special education provider, and parent 7
35	35	shall be represented by at least one member each. Two of the members shall 8
36	36	be secondary students enrolled in a public school, approved independent 9
37	37	school, or secondary career technical education center, one of whom shall be a 10
38	38	full member and the other of whom shall be a junior member who may not 11
39	39	vote. All members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and 12
40	40	consent of the Senate. In the appointment of the nonstudent members, priority 13
41	41	shall be given to the selection of persons with a demonstrated commitment to 14
42	42	ensuring quality education for Vermont students. To the extent possible, the 15
43	43	members shall represent the State’s geographic, gender, racial, and ethnic 16
44	44	diversity and shall also be proportionally representative of the number of 17
45	45	students educated in public schools and independent schools. The Secretary 18
46	46	shall serve on the State Board as a nonvoting member. The members shall be 19
47	47	appointed as follows: 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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52	52	(1) Four members shall be appointed by the Governor, including the 1
53	53	secondary student members. 2
54	54	(2) Three members shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on 3
55	55	Committees, none of whom may be legislators. Members shall be chosen from 4
56	56	among not fewer than six candidates proposed by the Senate Committee on 5
57	57	Education. 6
58	58	(3) Three members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House, 7
59	59	none of whom may be legislators. Members shall be chosen from among not 8
60	60	fewer than six candidates proposed by the House Committee on Education. 9
61	61	(4) Upon the expiration of the respective terms of those members of the 10
62	62	Board previously appointed, excluding the student members, the Governor 11
63	63	appointing authority that made the initial appointment to the expired term 12
64	64	shall, biennially in the month of February with the advice and consent of the 13
65	65	Senate, appoint members for terms of six years. The terms shall begin March 14
66	66	1 of the year in which the appointments are made. A member serving a term of 15
67	67	six years shall not be eligible for reappointment for successive terms. 16
68	68	(2)(5) In the event of any vacancy occurring in the membership of the 17
69	69	Board, the Governor appointing authority that made the initial appointment to 18
70	70	the vacated term shall fill the vacancy within 60 days with a qualified person 19
71	71	whose appointment shall be for the unexpired portion of the term. Vacancies 20
72	72	in terms initially filled by the Senate Committee on Committees or the Speaker 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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77	77	of the House shall be filled by choosing from among the original list of 1
78	78	candidates for the vacant term proposed by the applicable committee of 2
79	79	jurisdiction. 3
80	80	(3)(6) Biennially, the Board shall choose a member of the Board to be 4
81	81	its chair. 5
82	82	(4)(7) Annually, using an application process that is open and accessible 6
83	83	to all eligible students, the Governor shall appoint a Vermont secondary school 7
84	84	student who will continue to be a secondary student for at least two years 8
85	85	following taking office, to serve on the State Board for two years, beginning on 9
86	86	July 1 of the year of appointment. The student member shall not vote during 10
87	87	the first year and shall be a full and voting member during the second year of 11
88	88	his or her the student’s term. 12
89	89	Sec. 2. TRANSITION PERIOD APPOINTMENTS 13
90	90	Members currently serving on the State Board of Education may continue to 14
91	91	serve for the duration of the term to which they were appointed. Beginning on 15
92	92	July 1, 2025, as terms of currently serving members expire, appointments of 16
93	93	successors shall be made in accordance with the qualifications and 17
94	94	considerations required under 16 V.S.A. § 161 and shall be made in the 18
95	95	following order: 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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100	100	(1) For the terms expiring on February 28, 2027, one appointment shall 1
101	101	be made by the Senate Committee on Committees; one shall be made by the 2
102	102	Speaker of the House; and one shall be made by the Governor. 3
103	103	(2) For the term expiring on February 28, 2028, the appointment shall be 4
104	104	made by the Senate Committee on Committees. 5
105	105	(3) For the term expiring on February 28, 2029, the appointment shall be 6
106	106	made by the Speaker of the House. 7
107	107	(4) For the term expiring on June 30, 2030, the appointment shall be 8
108	108	made by the Governor. 9
109	109	(5) For the terms expiring on February 28, 2031, one shall be made by 10
110	110	the Senate Committee on Committees and one shall be made by the Speaker of 11
111	111	the House. 12
112	112	(6) The Governor shall continue to make annual secondary student 13
113	113	appointments in accordance with 16 V.S.A. § 161. 14
114	114	(7) After each appointing authority has made its initial transition period 15
115	115	appointments under this section, all appointments shall be made by the 16
116	116	appointing authority that made the initial appointment to the vacated or expired 17
117	117	term in accordance with 16 V.S.A. § 161. 18
118	118	Sec. 3. 3 V.S.A. chapter 11 is amended to read: 19
119	119	CHAPTER 11. STATE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES GENERALLY 20
120	120	* * * 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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125	125	§ 256. TERM OF OFFICER APPOINTED WITH ADVICE AND CONSENT 1
126	126	OF SENATE 2
127	127	(a) Whenever it is provided by law that an office shall be filled by 3
128	128	appointment with the advice and consent of the Senate, such appointment shall 4
129	129	be made during the month of February, and the term of office of a person an 5
130	130	individual so appointed shall commence on the first day of March thereafter. 6
131	131	(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all secretaries of State 7
132	132	agencies and all commissioners of State departments shall take office only with 8
133	133	the advice and consent of the Senate, except in the case of an appointment to 9
134	134	fill a vacancy when the General Assembly is not in session, in which case the 10
135	135	appointee may take office subject to the provisions of section 257 of this title. 11
136	136	§ 257. APPOINTMENTS AND VACANCIES REQUIRING ADVICE AND 12
137	137	CONSENT OF SENATE 13
138	138	(a) Appointments required to be made pursuant to section 256 of this title 14
139	139	in the month of February, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be 15
140	140	valid if made and confirmed at any time during the then regular biennial 16
141	141	session of the General Assembly. If not made and confirmed in such month of 17
142	142	February, the term of office of the person individual appointed and confirmed 18
143	143	thereafter shall extend to and include the day whereon his or her the 19
144	144	individual’s term would expire had he or she the individual been appointed and 20
145	145	confirmed in such month of February. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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150	150	(b) When a vacancy occurs in an office requiring appointment with the 1
151	151	advice and consent of the Senate, an appointment may be made to fill the 2
152	152	vacancy. 3
153	153	(1) If the appointment to fill the vacancy is made during any 4
154	154	adjournment of the General Assembly, the person individual appointed may 5
155	155	validly function in that office during adjournment until the Senate convenes at 6
156	156	the next regular, adjourned, or special session and acts upon the appointment 7
157	157	submitted forthwith by the Governor; or if. 8
158	158	(2) If the appointment to fill the vacancy is made during any session of 9
159	159	the General Assembly, the person individual appointed may validly function in 10
160	160	that office until the Senate shall act upon the appointment submitted forthwith 11
161	161	by the Governor. Thereafter the 12
162	162	(c)(1) An appointee shall continue in office if the Senate consents to the 13
163	163	appointment. 14
164	164	(2) If the Senate, by vote, does not consent to the appointment, the 15
165	165	Governor shall be prohibited from appointing the same individual for the same 16
166	166	office, including on an interim basis, for the duration of the Governor’s term of 17
167	167	office, and that same individual shall be prohibited from serving in an acting or 18
168	168	interim capacity in that same office. 19
169	169	* * * 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.312
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174	174	Sec. 4. 3 V.S.A. § 2702 is amended to read: 1
175	175	§ 2702. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION 2
176	176	(a) With the advice and consent of the Senate, the Governor shall appoint a 3
177	177	Secretary of Education from among no not fewer than three candidates 4
178	178	proposed by the State Board of Education. The State Board shall begin a 5
179	179	robust national search process not later than 45 days after public notification of 6
180	180	the resignation of a Secretary of Education. The Secretary shall serve at the 7
181	181	pleasure of the Governor. 8
182	182	(b) The Secretary shall report directly to the Governor and shall be a 9
183	183	member of the Governor’s Cabinet. 10
184	184	(c) At the time of appointment, the Secretary shall have expertise in 11
185	185	education management and policy and demonstrated leadership and 12
186	186	management abilities. 13
187	187	Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE 14
188	188	This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 15