WOODSTOCK — More than 100 parents, students and community members attended the Mountain Views Supervisory Union board meeting Monday night to object to a proposed $2.5 million budget reduction that threatens to eliminate 17 teaching and staff positions, including both full- and part-time roles.

Particularly hard hit was unified arts — visual and performing arts, music and world languages — which faces the loss of five total positions along with cuts to resources.

“I hope you reject this,” Woodstock resident Mike Calabrese said as he spoke about the importance of creative and expressive outlets for students.

Woodstock resident Pete Landis, an architect, artist and designer, called the cuts to unified arts “a horrible decision,” that ignores the large segment of professional life that involves the arts.

At issue with the budget is the state Legislature’s decision last June to reinstate an excess spending penalty on school districts. The penalty was suspended in 2022. Beginning in July 2025, every dollar a district spends above 118% of the state average of per-pupil spending will be taxed as if it were two dollars.

In order to stay below the penalty threshold, the district, which serves over 900 students from Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pomfret, Plymouth, Reading and Woodstock, must trim $2.5 million of spending, Woodstock representative and Vice Chairman Ben Ford said at the meeting.

Roughly 45 people attended the board meeting in person, and another 86 online.

Several speakers noted a lack of cuts to administrative positions and salaries. Administrator raises are budgeted at 5% for next year.

“Any administrator who is looking at a pay raise when they’re cutting staff should be ashamed of themselves,” Pomfret resident Quincy Saul said to the board.

Several of the roughly two dozen people who addressed the board voiced concerns about the lack of transparency and community involvement in the budgeting process.

“There was no community voice” in prioritizing resources, Woodstock resident Elizabeth Reaves said, as she urged the board to reject the proposed budget in favor of exploring other solutions.

Many in attendance were students, who objected to the proposed cut to the position of Latin teacher, a post held by “Magistra” Sarah Allen for more than a decade. It was not just Allen’s teaching, but her compassion for vulnerable communities within the school, that drew praise.

“Please reconsider cutting her position,” Woodstock senior Luca Morris said. “She is an amazing ally to the queer community at our school, constantly asking what she can do to support us all,” she added.

“Latin is not a dead language in Magistra’s classroom,” Pomfret resident Jonathan Hauze said. “The value she brings to this community is immeasurable.”

Annie Hauze, a Woodstock graduate and former member of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance called Allen “crucial to the mental well-being of a really legitimate segment of Woodstock’s student population.”

Allen on Tuesday said that she encourages people concerned about the school budget to urge their legislators to find creative ways to address education funding.

“I recognize that our School Board is in a very difficult position and is making cuts that they don’t want to have to make,” Allen said by email. “I appreciate their hard work, and hope that there can continue to be a place for me at Woodstock, but I also know that if my program is not cut, some other program or position likely would have to be, and that’s also a terrible situation.”

In tackling its budget challenge, the district restructured some debt into a penalty-exempt bond, which mitigated about $1.1 million of the excess spending amount.

The district also offered a one-time payment to faculty and staff willing to relinquish their health insurance benefits. “Currently we pay $2,000 per employee that does not participate in our health insurance. Beginning July 1, 2025, we will be offering $6,000 per employee,” Director of Finance and Operations James Fenn said by email Tuesday.

While 21 employees currently opt out of health benefits, Fenn said that he won’t know until the 2026 open enrollment period how many employees decide to opt out. “We need three more people to take advantage of this offer to break even and then each additional employee saves us money,” he said.

In an attempt to avoid layoffs, the board offered a buyout option to teachers and staff who had been with the district for at least five years. Those who opted to leave the district would receive a one-time payment of 50% of their base annual earnings for the current school year. A total of 11 district employees accepted the offer, Fenn said.

Proposed cuts to the central office staff include one full-time and one half-time position. The building and grounds budget was reduced by $100,000.

Resources such as field trip transportation, literacy and music supplies, textbooks and other equipment faced reductions.

Killington’s elementary school would lose a full-time teacher and a full-time para-educator. Woodstock’s middle and high schools would lose half-time teachers in math, science, and French as well as its full-time Latin teacher, Allen.

State Rep.-elect Charlie Kimball, D-Woodstock, was on hand to listen to constituents’ concerns as he prepares for the upcoming legislative session.

“Everything is on the table at this point. It has to be,” he said in an interview following the meeting. “We have to come up with a different system.”

State Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio issued the annual tax rate forecast Monday afternoon, predicting a 5.9% increase in property taxes this year. That number is a projection and is subject to change — last year’s letter predicted an 18.5% increase before rates settled at 13.9% — but is an early indicator that guides school budgeting decisions.

Ford said that the forecast is good news and that tax rates are projected to go down in every town in the district. He is concerned, though, that “after the year we saw last year,” there is little to no tolerance among voters for any tax increase, making it important to avoid any significant excess spending penalty.

The board will meet again on Dec. 16 to either vote on the proposed budget or to ask for revisions to the proposal.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603 727-3208