Officials say more than half of Vermont's school supervisory unions are taking action to respond to a new state law that encourages district consolidation as student populations fall and taxes rise.
Act 46 provides tax incentives to districts that consolidate with a goal of saving money through efficiencies and providing equal education to students across a district.
Vermont has nearly 60 supervisory bodies, including 46 supervisory unions, overseeing 277 school districts.
The Vermont superintendents and school boards associations say 26 of the supervisory unions, consisting of two or more districts, have either talked to a consultant, launched a merger study committee or are in the process of having conversations about the law.
Some districts started the process before the new law was passed.
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