Leaders will Step into New Roles July 1, 2022

Burlington School District (BSD) is pleased to announce the appointment of three principals. Jim Kelley has been named principal of Hunt Middle School (HMS), Nikki Ellis has been named principal of Flynn Elementary School, and Kolby Snellenberger has been named principal of Edmunds Elementary School. All three candidates were approved by the Burlington Board of School Commissioners at a Special Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 24.

“I am grateful for the Board’s support of these candidates and excited about the strengths these leaders bring to our schools and to our District leadership team,” said Tom Flanagan, BSD Superintendent. “Jim Kelley brings empathy, integrity, stability, and a commitment to helping the HMS community grow in their antiracist work. Nikki Ellis’ commitment to restorative practices, building relationships, and empowering both staff and students will be a great asset to the Flynn community. And Kolby Snellenberger’s experience, ability to connect with people, and commitment to equity are a great fit for BSD.”

Flanagan noted that the principal search process was led by a hiring committee at each school, comprised of staff, family, and community partner representatives. Students also served on the HMS hiring committee and had a chance to meet and give feedback on the elementary school candidates. Each school’s hiring committee recommended final candidates to Superintendent Flanagan who ultimately recommended Kelley, Ellis, and Snellenberger to the Board.

Two of the appointees, Kelley and Ellis, currently serve in BSD, and Kolby Snellenber will be coming to Burlington by way of Arkansas. Jim Kelley had been the assistant principal of HMS for four years before stepping into the role of interim principal of the school earlier this year, while Nikki Ellis currently serves as the assistant principal of Edmunds Elementary school; BSD will begin a search for new assistant principals of each school immediately. Kolby Snellenber is currently serving his third year as the principal of the Butterfield Trail Middle School (BTMS) in Van Buren, Arkansas. Prior to that, he was a K-12 Principal and a science teacher for 12 years.

Over the past few months, the hiring committees at EES and Flynn have reviewed and interviewed a number of candidates for open principal positions and we are happy to report we have several strong candidates who are interested in working in Burlington School District. With that in mind, the District held a combined Community Forum on May 9th, from 6:30-8 PM, where candidates participated in consideration for both schools. Check out the meeting below and don’t forget to provide feedback during the feedback form!

Feedback Form

After meeting the candidates, please take our feedback survey!

Meet the Candidates

Nikki Ellis
My name is Nikki Ellis (they/them), and I am a proud transgender non-binary school leader in Burlington School District!  This is my 8th year in the field of education.  

Prior to entering the field of education, I had the opportunity to live in Peru for about a year and half.  This was a foundational experience that developed the values I still carry today as a school leader.  

Living in a new culture and learning through collectivism pushed me to see beyond my own schema of the world.  It also helped me to develop my bilingualism. Today, I work to honor the values of reciprocity, trust, mutual understanding, and sense of belonging that I developed while living abroad.

I started my career in education as a high school ELL/ELA teacher in Des Moines, Iowa, before transitioning into the role of Equity Coach with Des Moines Public Schools.  In that role, I had the opportunity to be trained and coached by The New York Leadership Academy and to implement an equity audit and anti-racism coaching for school administrators.

My wife and I then moved to the East coast to be closer to her family.  This led me to Chelsea High School in Massachusetts, where I became an Assistant Principal.  

In my administrator role in Chelsea, I had the opportunity to work with a local organization called ROCA.  They mentor youth who are at risk for incarceration or who have previously been incarcerated.  ROCA trained me as a restorative practitioner. We worked collaboratively to identify and resolve harm and conflict within the school community.  This work deeply impacted how I see the role of a school leader.

After a few years in the Boston area, my wife and I decided to move to a city with a culture and pace more similar to the Midwest, which is what led us to Burlington!  I am currently the Assistant Principal at Edmunds Middle School.  In my time at EMS, I have worked to implement a peer mediator program.  Students are being trained to resolve harm and conflict in the community.  I have absolutely fallen in love with Burlington and plan to stay here long term!  

Outside of school, I moonlight as a sous chef for a local catering company and run a Queer and BIPOC-friendly surf collective called The Lavender Lineup that helps queer and BIPOC folx to access surfing on the New England coast.  When I’m not keeping busy with these projects, my wife and I love spending time hiking with our three dogs!

The most essential tenant of my leadership is an unwavering pursuit of collectively building a community that sees, listens to, and understands all members.  My favorite way to connect with kids is by asking them to teach me about their passions and interests! 

Jim Kelley

My name is Jim Kelley and I have been the Interim Principal at Hunt Middle School since October. Prior to this experience, I was the Assistant Principal at Hunt for the last four years and before that I taught 7th/8th grade science at Edmunds Middle School for ten years. My experience in schools spans nearly two decades in a wide variety of roles.  I’ve been a paraeducator, behavioral interventionist, high school chemistry and advanced biology teacher, and a middle school math and science teacher. These experiences give me a deep understanding and appreciation for the different ways staff work with and support student learning. In the 1990’s I took a hiatus from education to be the Executive Director of the Tibetan Resettlement Project in Burlington. Through this experience I gained a deep appreciation for the challenges refugees face as they begin a new life in a vastly different culture.

I am passionate about restorative practices, anti-racist work, equity, and deeper learning. I am committed to making Hunt a place where all students feel welcome and celebrated. I’m committed to developing better student/adult partnerships and better school/family partnerships. I want students to experience learning that is engaging and feels meaningful to them. The pandemic has dealt a challenging blow these past years to some of this work, but I am committed to guiding our school with its talented teachers and staff  beyond this storm to realize our full potential. 

I earned a Master of Education degree from St. Michael’s College in School Leadership and a B.A. from Middlebury College in Religion, with a special focus on Tibetan Buddhism and a minor in Organic Chemistry. I live in Burlington with my wife Yangchen and our dog Chipper. The three of us love long walks, hiking and camping. I have two children. Tenzin is a junior at Temple University and Sonam is a sophomore at Northeastern University. Both of them attended Burlington schools K-12. I treasure time with my children when they are home for vacations.

Casey Provost

My name is Casey Provost and I am thankful for your consideration as you select the next Principal of Edmunds Elementary School.  Having spent nine years in Vermont schools and school districts, and as a Burlington resident for the last four of those years, I am excited about the opportunity to serve students and families in our community.  My approach to the principalship is built on strong and positive working relationships with students and their families/caregivers while working closely with staff and community partners to maximize the impact that we can have on students.

When asked during this interview process to describe my educational philosophy I shared that I believe our charge as elementary educators is to help students learn about themselves and grow as they navigate both the school and wider community.  First and foremost, we need to ensure that children are given the care, support, and guidance needed to navigate social and emotional circumstances that they encounter.  When the social and emotional needs of students are addressed, we create better conditions to make academic gains.

As educators, I think that we have both an opportunity and responsibility to pursue and model learning and growth as a lifelong process. After completing an undergraduate degree in mental health and human services, I studied school and mental health counseling at SUNY Plattsburgh, earning a master’s degree in education and a certificate of advanced study.  As a school counselor I found myself not only working with students on an individual, small-group, and classroom basis but was also fortunate to work closely with administration to look at and build upon both the successes and opportunities within systems and structures.  Wanting to increase my efficacy and capacity as a leader, I enrolled in graduate study in education administration to obtain a principal endorsement.  Then as a principal, navigating how to maximize our resources and supports to impact students, I sought to better understand how workplace practices and conditions impact the organization through graduate study in human resources management.  Learning takes many forms, both in traditional school settings and also what we learn from our experiences and from those who we encounter.

My background in school counseling shapes and influences my work with students, families, and staff each day.  As a school counselor and home/school coordinator I worked closely with families to ensure that students had access to the support they needed in order to be successful inside and outside of the classroom.  Due to a high degree of transiency in my (then) district, a primary focus of my role was to ensure that transitions to a new school and community were as seamless as possible and I have continued to work through this lens in each role.  Students and families bring varied experiences and perspectives which enrich the entire school community and it is a privilege to be a part of a school community.  While the principalship is filled with both celebrations and challenges, it is where I see my skill set being best utilized in working with teams to make decisions and plans that positively contribute to student growth and promote learning outcomes.

Having served in varying capacities in schools/districts as a school counselor, principal, and in human resources, I am thankful for those who I have worked closely with and the opportunities that I have had to build capacity within systems and structures which prioritize student needs.  I look forward to meeting you and learning more about the Edmunds Elementary School community.

Kolby Snellenberger

My name is Kolby Snellenberger, and I am currently in my third year of serving as the principal of the Butterfield Trail Middle School (BTMS) in Van Buren, Arkansas. Prior to that, I was a K-12 Principal for one year and a science teacher for 12 years.

I work hard to embody the servant leadership philosophy for my staff, students, and families. This includes growing and distributing the leadership of my teachers, staff, and students. I have worked diligently to create systems and build the capacity of both teachers and staff by providing them with opportunities to serve in leadership roles. I selected teachers and staff to serve as members of a guiding coalition to shape the vision and direction of our school. The guiding coalition then devised a series of committees to provide a voice to teachers and delegate the roles and responsibilities previously held by the administration. I also created a Student Voice to empower students to improve their school. Students identified rules and procedures that they wanted to change, worked to create solutions that allowed the school to remain safe and efficient, organized and implemented reward days for the student body, and raised money to improve their school. 

I believe that collaboration is key to teachers improving their craft and meeting the diverse needs of students. To accomplish this, I began transitioning my current school from a model of professional isolation to one of collaboration by initiating the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process. Initially, there was a great deal of resistance to this approach due to past experiences. When I started, there were no schools in the district working towards becoming a PLC, and now there are six.  

I’m an advocate for bringing inclusive practices to my school to end the cycles of highly restrictive placements for students in special education. By partnering with the special education director and special education experts in the Arkansas Department of Education, I created a plan for full inclusion for all special education students at BTMS and the feeder schools where they receive students. My partnership with the staff members at the department of education has provided me with incredible resources and connections to assist me with meeting the needs of our students with disabilities.  

My wife and I have always dreamed of moving to Vermont for the shared values, climate, and beautiful countryside. We are finally relocating to the area because my wife has accepted a position with the Village of Essex Junction. My family and I are extremely excited about this new adventure and are looking forward to putting down roots in the communities where we live and work. I enjoy hiking and camping in the great outdoors and working in the yard for pleasure. I love plants and have since before it was trendy. Today my home and my office are both adorned with various house plants. I am not sure how I will move them all, but I am not leaving without them.  

Brittany Taraba
Brittany Taraba has always been passionate about education. Her earliest memories are of family vacations to places like Washington D.C. and St. Louis. Family dinners were spent checking in with each other before being quizzed on whichever placemat was at her seat—space, US maps, presidents, etc. She attended a residential high school for academically gifted students in her junior and senior years: Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts. She earned a BS in Business-Marketing, an MA in Elementary Education, and her Ed.S. in Educational Leadership. 

Brittany has 10 years of experience in education. She taught for 6 years in Louisiana before moving to rural Alaska for the last 4 years. She was an elementary teacher for 9 years, teaching all subjects in Grades 2-5 as well as Grade 6 physical science and world history. She moved into the Assistant Principal position during the 2021-2022 school year at her PreK-12 school in Alaska. 

While teaching, Brittany was actively engaged with both school and district leadership. She served as building technology coordinator, website manager, CHAMPS coach, lead teacher, data coach, reading intervention coordinator, and distance learning liaison.  She was the lead for the district math team from 2016-2018 during the adoption of Eureka Math. In this position, Brittany was responsible for coordinating professional development for teachers throughout the year, created a scope and sequence for instruction, and developing district-wide assessments for the curriculum aligned with state standards. She brought this knowledge to Alaska and served on the curriculum adoption team during the 2020-2021 school year. After the district adopted a new math program, she facilitated support for teachers throughout the district. As a school administrator, Brittany has participated in extensive professional development on the Science of Reading to better support teachers in district fluency goals. She has extensive training and coaching experience with PBIS, Restorative Practices, and social emotional learning.

Brittany believes in collaboration, distributive leadership, and culture. She appreciates teamwork and having multiple viewpoints when making decisions. She believes in having high expectations while providing the needed supports for staff and students to meet those goals. Parents are children’s first teachers, and she seeks to include them in the educational process. Elementary school is a time of incredible social, emotional, and academic growth for students. Brittany strives for a fun, engaging, and rigorous environment that makes everyone excited to enter the front doors each morning.

Outside of school, Brittany enjoys reading, cooking, and traveling. Her parents and sister reside in Louisiana. Brittany has a rescue Siamese cat named Cocoa who loves to “talk” and serves as a backup alarm clock if her mother is late for meal time.

Jaclyn Tirocchi

Jaclyn is a passionate educator and leader. With a BA from Providence College and a MM from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee in vocal performance and music education, she began her journey as a private vocal coach and launched her own company, Jaclyn Leigh Music, in 2012. Her private studio reached as far as Guyana, Spain, Australia, California, France, and Greece. She then became the music director and vice president of a non-profit musical theater organization, Scituate Youth Drama, Inc., for which she is now President and Executive Director. In 2017 she began her academic experience as the choral director of Scituate Middle and High School in Scituate, Rhode Island. In 2020 she began her post graduate studies to become an administrator through the Center for Leadership in Educational Equity and simultaneously was accepted, with scholarship, into the doctoral program for Educational Leadership at Johnson and Wales University. She will receive her Ed.D in Educational Leadership in the spring of 2024. In 2021 Jaclyn became a K-5 elementary music teacher in Lincoln, Rhode Island, in order to obtain experience that spans all grade levels, from K through 12. She feels that understanding the entire spectrum of elementary and secondary education is a critical component when considering meaningful vertical and horizontal alignment throughout a district.

Her belief is that all students are capable of high academic achievement and that it is the responsibility of the leader to ensure that teachers, students, and families are provided with the necessary infrastructure to see that belief to fruition. Working collaboratively with groups of various stakeholders towards common, progressive goals serves as the core of her professional motivation. Coupled with her desire to serve our youth in a way that directly impacts the future of our world, Jaclyn’s passions align with the profound work that is expected of an educational leader who aspires for equity and excellence in the 21^st century.

Jaclyn’s reformative approach to educational leadership leverages evidence-based practices such as collaboration, meaningfully executed professional development, and the synthesis of established wisdom with cycles of continuous improvement based on data, culture, and a strong shared vision. Her leadership style is such that students, families, teachers, and staff feel heard, valued, supported, and safe. Jaclyn believes that true educational reform can only grow from soil that is rich with the supported insight of the entire community being served and watered with initiatives that support the evolution of our youth as they develop into critically thinking, contributive citizens.

BSD is implementing the voluntary Vermont Agency of Education antigen Test to Stay (TTS) program.

TTS is used when unvaccinated students are identified as a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 while they were in school. The intention of TTS is to allow students who would otherwise be required to quarantine to remain in school; keeping in mind that vaccinated individuals who are close contacts are not required to quarantine. 

TTS is only for students who are not fully vaccinated and who are: (1) asymptomatic, and; (2) identified as close contacts of a positive case that they encountered at school. It replaces the need for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals to quarantine and miss school days, however, students who are not fully vaccinated are still expected to quarantine at home, including in the evening and on the weekends.

How can my student participate in the Test to Stay program?

In order for your student to participate in the Test to Stay program, please complete these two forms:

1. Test to Stay Consent Form – parent/guardian consent for student participation
2. SimpleReport – reports the results of testing to parents/guardians

How does the Test to Stay program work?

If you have consented for your student to participate in the Test to Stay program, you will receive a notification from your student’s school if they have been identified as a close contact of a positive case.

In most cases, TTS will start that same day or the next morning, with your student receiving a rapid antigen test at their school. Students will be given a rapid antigen test in the school building. It takes 15 minutes for us to get the results 

• If your student tests negative, they may remain at school and participate in school-sponsored activities that only involve students from your school. 

• If your student tests positive, they will be considered positive for COVID-19 and will need to enter a period of isolation for 10 days. 

Daily antigen testing will continue on school days for seven days after the last exposure; if “Day 7” falls on a day when school is closed, we will test students the first day back as their last test. (This does not apply to long “breaks” of school when a PCR test would come back first.) If your student develops symptoms at any point, inform the school, seek a PCR test right away, and keep your student at home and away from others. 

Your student will not be tested on the weekends, but needs to remain in quarantine, meaning they should not participate in other activities, go to the grocery store, or spend time with friends and others outside of their household. It is important to note that this Test to Stay program is only for attendance at school or on-campus school-sponsored activities. Any unvaccinated student identified as a close contact is expected to quarantine for all other activities, aside from medical appointments, for a total of 14 days with the option to test out of quarantine with a negative PCR test result on or after day 7 from last exposure. While participating in Test to Stay, close contacts take rapid antigen tests for a total of 7 school days, and if negative all 7 days may leave quarantine.  Test to Stay participants may not attend school activities that involve students from other schools, such as sports or scholastic competitions.

If at any point your student develops symptoms:  

1. Do not send your student to school and keep your child home.  
2. Call your student’s health care provider or make an appointment through the Vermont Department of Health to schedule a PCR test.   
3. If your student is having a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or go to the hospital.  
4. If your student doesn’t have a provider, call 2-1-1 to be connected to a clinic in your area.  
5. People with mild illness can treat their symptoms at home: help your student get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take fever-reducing medication if needed.  

Still have questions?

• AOE Test to Stay Information
• BSD’s TTS FAQs
• Recorded Virtual Town Hall on Test to Stay
• BSD 21-22 COVID Procedures

School districts across Vermont are entering into “Budget Season” and Burlington School District (BSD) is pleased to announce a new budgeting model that will place more control of school budgets in the hands of principals and school communities. The District’s new “Equitable Budgeting and Staffing Model” strives to allocate resources based on student enrollment and need, seeks to build school-based engagement, and creates a new equity allocation for schools to use in efforts to close the opportunity gap. Leaders will share how budgeting will look different this year at a virtual “Equitable Budgeting Kickoff” event on October 4th at 6 PM over Zoom. Changes have also been laid out in a new BSD Budget Development Guide.

“I’m really pleased to be embarking on this new way of thinking about funding schools,” said BSD Superintendent Tom Flanagan. “We’ve spent the last year working with district leaders, teachers, students, and stakeholders on a model that is fair, predictable, equity-focused, and empowering for principals who know their buildings and student needs better than anyone.”

New to the budget process will be the Recognizing Injustice and Seeking Equity (or RISE) Allocation that each school will receive. After determining baseline staff models and resource needs, each school will receive an additional sum of money designed to help schools implement ideas and strategies designed to close the opportunity gap that exists in BSD. RISE Allocations will be based on a weighted pupil formula based, in part, on the Pupil Weighting Factors Report prepared by the Vermont Agency of Education in partnership with the University of Vermont, Rutgers University, and American Institutes for Research. Once funds for schools are determined, school leaders will work with School Advisory Groups to identify focus areas of needs and create proposals to address those needs. 

“This is a great step towards our school district and our community living our values around equity,” said Kevin Robinson, Principal of Integrated Art Academy and a member of the Equitable Budget and Staffing Work Group. “I am excited about the possibilities this will offer principals and community members to have more say in how schools are funded, and how those funds may create more equitable outcomes for students.” 

The public is invited to learn more about this new Equitable Budgeting and Staffing Model at a kickoff event on October 4th at 6 PM virtually over Zoom; the meeting will also be streamed and recorded on the District YouTube channel. 

Visit our Facebook page to RSVP and invite your friends and colleagues. See you there!

Burlington School Food Project is providing free boxes of food for families available various sites throughout the city. Each meal kit is intended to cover breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks for one child for one week (7 days)! You can pick up food boxes on Wednesdays and Fridays at the locations listed below. You can get one box per child in your household under 19 years of age, and you do not have to have your child with you to pick up food. Please see more information below or contact Doug Davis with any questions. 

***NEW*** We are also offering Vegetarian Meal Kits. See the images below for examples of the types of foods available in each kit. ALL FAMILIES ARE WELCOME with no eligibility requirements. 

***Schedule and Locations (Every Wednesday and Friday)***

3:00-4:30 PM – BHS Parking Lot, Sustainability Academy & Champlain Elementary Parking Lot

5:00-6 PM – Boys & Girls Club of Burlington

Students to Lead Ceremonies Throughout November and December –
By Autumn Bangor and Russ Elek

 In July, the Burlington School District (BSD) joined the City of Burlington and other community partners in declaring Racism a Public Health Emergency. As part of the announcement, BSD committed to flying the Black Lives Matter flag at all school properties. On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, the Burlington Board of School Commissioners passed a resolution to support this effort and this November and December, all students at all BSD schools, as well as several community partners, will begin the process of raising the flags in small, private ceremonies. The work began on Friday, November 13 when students raised the flag at BHS, CP Smith, and Ira Allen PreSchool.

“The raising of the Black Lives Matter flag symbolically represents the commitments of allyship, anti-racist practices, diversity and inclusion, justice, and equity set forth by Burlington School District,” said Superintendent Tom Flanagan. “This is a great symbol of equity, but it is only a starting point. I’m proud of our principals and teachers who have taken the opportunity to connect these flag-raisings directly to classroom curriculum and learning. By having students involved in the ceremonies and age-appropriate conversations around race and equity, we can ensure that the flags are truly an outward representation of what is happening inside our schools.”

BSD’s Office of Equity has spent the last several months working directly with students, teachers, and administrators to embed anti-racist curriculum and assist schools in raising the flag. They also developed Black Lives Matter FAQ to share with staff and community.

Because each school’s ceremony will be student-led, no two will look alike. Some will feature speeches, readings, or artwork, others will feature students singing or participating in drum circles, and one school will even feature a live performance from A2VT. Though every ceremony will look different, all will be rooted in themes of social justice, anti-racism, and equality. Schools are supplementing the events through classroom activities such as creating Black Lives Matter-themed artwork, crafting anti-racist statements, holding class-wide discussions, and utilizing Restorative Practices techniques such as community circles and one-on-one check-ins.

“We are living in a historic moment of racial reckoning as we watch our country come to terms with its history and present while living within the dual pandemics of racism and Covid-19 and the disproportionate impact on BIPOC communities,” said BSD Director of Equity, Sparks. “Systemic racism and racial injustice have a presence in our everyday lives, continuing to foster fear, trauma, and inequity, while undoubtedly denying our neighbors and fellow community members who are people of color their most fundamental rights. We at BSD strongly denounce racism in all its forms and we are dedicated to examining our practices, policies, and procedures in order to eradicate systemic racism in our school community. We believe Black Lives Matter and stand in solidarity with Black students, faculty, and staff, and we are grateful for the efforts of Burlington High School and Edmunds Middle School students who helped open our eyes and pave the way by working to raise the BLM flag at their schools.”

Sparks noted that student activists have long been asking for racial injustice to be recognized at the BSD. In February 2018, BHS Social Justice Union activists petitioned the BSD School Board to raise the Black Lives Matter flag at BHS, becoming the second school in Vermont and the second school in the nation to do so. The following year, EMS students, with the help of the University of Vermont-supported Youth-led Participatory Action Research group successfully petitioned to raise a BLM flag on the Edmunds campus.

“As our nation grapples with anti-Black violence, we recognize that systemic racism has persisted in our nation for centuries and we acknowledge the part that schools play in ending this plague,” Superintendent Flanagan added. “There is much work to be done and while the flag’s symbolism is important, our solidarity must be backed by actions such as the ones happening in our classrooms today.”

Due to COVID protocols, this year’s ceremonies will be smaller and will not be open to the public. However, many of the ceremonies will be captured through videos and photos and shared through school and District social media and newsletters in the coming weeks. RETN at the Media Factory will also work with the District to create a video showcasing efforts across the District. The public is encouraged to tune into the District’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts to see footage from the events.

***Schedule and Locations (Every Wednesday and Friday)***

In response to the August 11th update to the Agency of Education’s “A Strong and Healthy Start Guidance,” we have created a tool in PowerSchool that will allow families to complete student health screenings at home each morning before leaving for school. Please check out the video for a look at how to complete the daily form, then login to your BSD PowerSchool account to complete the screening.

Remember, it will be important to complete the screening before 7:30 AM each morning, if possible, because at 7:30 each morning, staff will download a report to see who has completed the screening. Those who did not complete the screening prior to 7:30 AM will have to complete the screening on-site prior to building entry. Once students arrive, staff will verify which students still need to be screened and confirm students are fever-free.

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We need your help!

BSD is entering into an agreement with the AOE to allow for all students to receive free lunch at Champlain, Edmunds Elementary, Edmunds Middle, and Burlington High School this year. This includes take-home meals for remote learning days. In order for this to happen, we need all families to complete the online Free and Reduced Meal application as soon as possible. Coronavirus has had many financial implications for our families; if your student attends any of these schools, please fill out the application even if you haven’t qualified before. 

We need the applications completed in order to get the best possible funding for this program and to have the Free and reduced lunch data that many programs need for grants and other funding. If successful, there is a possibility we could offer FREE LUNCH at these schools until school year 2023-24! All students at all schools already receive breakfast and supper at no charge, and these four schools are the only schools which have not been able to offer free lunch… so the addition of free lunch at Champlain, EES, EMS, and BHS will go a long way to combat hunger. 

Please remember, you should complete this form using your current income, even if you expect your income to resume/increase in the coming months. This program is fully funded by the Federal Government, and your participation will not cause other children, students, or families to lose any of their current benefits… there is enough to go around, we just need help to bring the program to Burlington and serve our students the best way we can!

Please complete the online Free and Reduced Meal application as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact Doug Davis, Director of Food Service: (802) 864-8416 OR ddavis@bsdvt.org