Act 170 - Resources and Information
What is Act 170?
Act 170 is Vermont's roadmap for public education reform. It is a bridge between the new funding formula proposed under Act 73 (2025) and Vermont’s efforts to reform educational governance, service delivery, and capital planning across the state.
Act 173 does not force districts or unions to merge, nor does it force schools to close. Instead, the law created a statewide processes for school districts and unions to collaboratively assess new ways of providing high-quality, financially sustainable education services. Act 170 does this through two different collaborative processes: CESAs and Merger Committees.
Learn more about Act 170:
Lamoille North SU has a useful, detailed overview of Act 170: https://www.lnsd.org/community/act-170-vermonts-public-education-transformation
The full text of Act 170: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT170/ACT170%20As%20Enacted.pdf
CESAs:
CESA stands for Cooperative Education Service Area. Each school district and union has been assigned to a regional CESA. Lincoln is assigned to the Champlain Valley South CESA. Each CESA group is required to create a governance structure and bylaws, evaluate current educational resources in the region through asset mapping, and create a system to share resources across the CESA area. The purpose of the CESAs is to enable districts and unions to increase or expand educational opportunities while potentially reducing expenses through regional cost-sharing. CESAs do not require consolidation, mergers, or other changes to district governance.
Learn more about CESAs:
Frequently Asked Questions about CESAs from the AOE: https://education.vermont.gov/sites/aoe/files/documents/edu-cooperative-educational-service-areas-frequently-asked-questions-august-2026.pdf
Lincoln’s CESA: Champlain Valley South
Lincoln School District was assigned to the Champlain Valley South CESA. This CESA includes CVSD, ACSD, ANSD, MAUSD, MMUUSD, PAHCC, and LSD.
CVS CESA Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/act-170-district-consolidation/cooperative-educational-service-areas-cesa-study
Apointed Board Members of the Champlain Valley South Region CESA
Adam Bunting, Founding Co-Chair, Champlain Valley School District, abunting@cvsdvt.org
Wendy Baker, Founding Co-Chair, Addison Central School District, wbaker@acsdvt.org
Sheila Soule, Clerk, Addison Northwest School District, ssoule@anwsd.org
Patrick Reen, Mount Abraham Unified School District, patrick.reen@mausd.org
John Muldoon, Interim Treasurer, Mount Mansfield Unified Union School District, john.muldoon@mmuusd.org
Daniella Sutherland, Lincoln School District, dsutherland@lincolnsd.org
Nicole MacTavish, Patricia A. Hannaford Regional Technical School District, nmactavish@pahcc.org
Merger Committees
Act 170 also created merger committees, which provide structured, facilitated guidance for districts and unions to discuss options for combining or merging governance structures. Each school district is required to participate in an “exploratory” merger committee. Merger committees must be contiguous, or geographically connected. Each regional merger committee should also have at least 2,000 students enrolled across the area when possible.
Act 170 included 20 proposed school district groupings, as shown on the map below. However, Act 170 also allows school districts to leave their assigned merger committee and join a new merger committee, if a majority of the school board votes to do so.
Merger committees begin meeting Fall 2026. The groups will issue recommendations for mergers by Fall 2027, and communities will vote on merger proposals during Town Meeting 2028. If a merger is approved, it will go into effect for the 2029-2030 school year. Voters in each district have the final say on joining or forming any new, larger district that is recommended by their merger committee.
Learn More About Merger Committees:
AOE (see New, Larger School Districts Section) https://education.vermont.gov/schools/school-governance/education-transformation
Map of CESAs (black and white lines) and Merger Committees (solid black lines)
Lincoln’s Merger Committee
The Lincoln School District was assigned to “Group 1” Merger Committee. This merger committee includes MAUSD, ANSD, ACSD. The town of Lincoln shares borders with four different merger committees, however. This enabled the Lincoln School Board to decide which Merger Committee would be the best fit for the district.
At the September 8th board meeting, Lincoln’s School Board voted to switch to “Group 9” Merger Committee. This committee currently includes White River Valley SU, Orange Southwest UUSD, and Echo Valley Community School District. Membership in the merger committee may change, as school boards across the region are evaluating the best placement for their communities. The regional facilitator is Brad Morgan, Superintendent of North Middlesex Regional School District in Massachusetts.
Why Lincoln Switched Merger Committees:
After separating from our prior merger with MAUSD, in just a few years Lincoln has established a strong financial and academic foundation as an independently operating district. This year we started contracting Business Office services with WRVSU, and are already building a mutually beneficial relationship.
At the same time we greatly value the opportunities available to us as a member of the newly formed Champlain Valley South Collaborative Educational Service Area (CESA), especially considering that nearly all Lincoln secondary students attend middle and high schools within this CESA region.
ACT 170 requires all school districts to participate in exploratory merger committees, but does not require any districts to merge. Additionally, the committee we choose has no bearing on where Lincoln students attend school. Joining Group 9 along with the WRVSU districts will afford Lincoln an opportunity to establish connections with independently operating districts that are similar in size and structure to Lincoln, with whom we’ve already begun a key collaboration. The LSD Board sees this option as providing the district additional flexibility while preserving and strengthening our important connections within Addison County and the greater CESA region.
Source: Lamoille North SU https://www.lnsd.org/community/act-170-vermonts-public-education-transformation