Vermont Town Tuitioning and IEP Rights: What Families Must Know

Vermont has one of the most unusual school choice systems in the country. About 90 Vermont towns don't operate their own public schools. Instead, those towns pay tuition for students to attend approved independent schools — places like St. Johnsbury Academy or Burr and Burton Academy. For most students, this works smoothly. For students with IEPs, it has historically been a minefield.

The rules changed significantly. Understanding both the new protections and the continuing gaps is essential if your child has an IEP and attends — or may attend — an independent school through Vermont's tuitioning system.

How Vermont's Town Tuitioning System Works

When a Vermont town doesn't operate a public school for a particular grade level, the town must pay tuition for students to attend an approved independent school or a school in another district. The town acts as the "sending school district," and the approved independent school is the "receiving school."

Vermont's approved independent schools are private schools approved under State law to participate in the tuitioning program. They are not technically public schools, but they receive public funding through this system.

Historically, approved independent schools had broad discretion to admit or reject students. Many used admissions processes that effectively screened out students with complex disabilities or high support needs. A family in a tuitioning town whose child had a significant IEP could find that no independent school would accept their child — leaving the town scrambling to find an alternative placement.

What Changed Under Act 173 and State Board Rule 2200

Vermont legislation — Act 173 of 2018 — and subsequent changes to State Board Rule 2200 fundamentally altered this dynamic.

Under 16 V.S.A. § 2973, as amended by Act 173, an approved independent school that accepts public tuition must enroll a student with an IEP who requires special education services when the IEP team or LEA places the student there as an appropriate placement and least restrictive environment, subject to statutory exceptions. This means:

• An approved independent school may not reject a student covered by that placement rule merely because the student has a disability or needs special education, unless a statutory exception applies.
• When the school enrolls a student under that rule, it must provide the special education services required through the applicable IEP and federal and State requirements.
• The school cannot accept a student and then fail to implement the IEP, claiming it lacks the resources or staff.

This is a significant shift from the prior rules, which allowed independent schools to decline enrollment for some students with disabilities. Parents who were previously told "that school doesn't take IEP students" should ask whether the current placement rule applies and whether a statutory exception is relevant.

Who Is Legally Responsible for FAPE?

Despite these changes, here is the critical legal reality: the sending town school district remains the legally responsible party for ensuring Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

The independent school may be delivering the education day-to-day, but the LEA — the town school district that issued the tuition payment — remains accountable under IDEA. This matters for several reasons:

If the independent school doesn't deliver IEP services properly, the complaint goes to the town school district, not the independent school. The town district must either compel the independent school to comply or arrange alternative services.

If the IEP team determines the student needs services the independent school cannot provide — say, a full-time behavioral paraprofessional or a specialized reading specialist — the town district must figure out how to provide them, even if that means contracting separately.

If the independent school wants to make a change to how services are delivered, it cannot do so unilaterally. The LEA must handle the change through the IEP process with the parent's participation. An IEP can be amended without a meeting only if the parent and LEA agree in writing.

The IEP Meeting When Your Child Attends an Independent School

The IEP team composition looks slightly different in a tuitioning situation. The independent school's staff — including the person responsible for special education coordination at that school — should participate. The town district's special education director (usually at the Supervisory Union level) must also be involved.

This creates a situation where two institutions are at the table, and they may have different interests. The independent school wants to minimize its operational complexity; the town district wants to minimize cost. Your job is to keep both focused on what your child actually needs.

Before each annual review, get clarity on:

• Which institution is responsible for each specific service listed in the IEP.
• How progress monitoring will be communicated to you, and by whom.
• What happens if a service provider at the independent school leaves mid-year — who is responsible for filling the gap.

Can an Independent School Refuse to Enroll Your Child?

Under 16 V.S.A. § 2973, an approved independent school participating in the tuitioning program may not reject a student covered by the placement rule because of disability, subject to statutory exceptions. There is an important distinction:

• Refusing to admit or continue serving a student covered by the placement rule because of a disability or special education needs — this is prohibited unless a statutory exception applies.
• Not being able to provide a required service — the sending town district remains responsible for arranging it and ensuring FAPE; lack of capacity does not excuse denial of services.

If an independent school is pushing back on admitting or continuing to serve your child with an IEP, get everything in writing. Ask for a Prior Written Notice (PWN) explaining the decision — the town school district is required to provide one. If the refusal feels like disability discrimination or the school is not providing a required service, you can file a complaint with the Vermont Agency of Education or the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Choosing Between Tuitioning and Out-of-District Placement

Not all students in tuitioning towns attend independent schools through the standard tuitioning program. Some students with more intensive needs are placed in out-of-district therapeutic day schools or residential programs. Vermont has one of the highest rates of separate school placements in the country — 5.27% of students with IEPs, compared to a national average of 2.36%.

For students whose needs can be met in an approved independent school with proper supports, pursuing that option with a robust IEP is often preferable to a more restrictive placement. But the IEP must actually specify the services — not just accept a placement and hope the school figures it out.

The Vermont IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a section specifically on tuitioning and IEP rights, with a framework for evaluating whether an independent school placement will actually deliver FAPE and what to document if it doesn't.

Practical Steps for Tuitioning Families

1. Request the IEP in writing before any school transition. If your child is moving from a public elementary school to a tuitioning program at an independent high school, request the current IEP and confirm which LEA and school staff are responsible for implementing each service before the transition, not after.

2. Get the independent school's 504/special education coordinator involved early. Knowing who at that school will oversee your child's services before day one prevents gaps.

3. Confirm that the independent school's staff has read and understood the IEP. You can request a brief meeting with the person responsible for implementation in the first week of school.

4. Know that you can reconvene the IEP team anytime. If services aren't being implemented, send a written request to reconvene. Address it to both the independent school and the town district's special education director.

5. Document everything. In a split-responsibility situation, documentation is the only clear record of what was agreed and by whom.

Vermont's town tuitioning system is genuinely distinctive — there's no national playbook that covers it. Getting it right for a student with an IEP takes specific knowledge of both state law and the practical dynamics between town districts and independent schools.

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