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School District Vt. Explore taxpayer-funded college accounts for kindergarten students


RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – A school district in Vermont is planning for higher education. The board is proposing to set aside taxpayer money for each student to use for continuing education after graduation. But there are doubts about the value and legitimacy of the idea.

“If you put a light at the end of a tunnel, a child will walk through the tunnel,” said David Schoales, president of the Southeast Windham School Board.

Schoales read about New York City creating 529 savings accounts for all of their public school kindergarten students.

With about 180 students in each grade, Schoales proposed a school budget of $55 million incorporating $100 per kindergarten student into their own 529 plan.

“The whole point of that $55 million is to invest in children’s futures. What better investment than studying after high school? Continue after high school. And especially if it sends kids to college who aren’t supposed to go to school,” Schoales said.

“In theory, that sounds great,” said Mark Speno, interim superintendent for the Windham Southeast School District.

Speno has some logistics-related questions.

“One hundred bucks starting in kindergarten – what does your senior year look like, I have questions about that,” he said.

Schoales said the accounts will be created by the school district but managed by the family on it, so families can invest more money over time.

Frank Rucker, the district’s business administrator, questions whether this is fair.

“One hundred dollars at 3% – it’s a very safe low risk investment. That’s three dollars a year. So 10 years, that’s $30,” Rucker said.

If the account is not touched by anyone else, they will receive about $140.

Rucker said he spoke to VSAC about the program. They told him it didn’t exist in New England, in part, because of questions of legality.

“The board wanted to explore this idea of ​​a publicly taxed resource available to private citizens. That’s not typical with school budgeting,” says Rucker.

The school board does not currently have a schedule, but decisions will need to be made by January to be ready for the school budget vote in March.

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