Voters in 18 towns to decide $5.47M Central Vermont Career Center budget
February 28, 2026 | By Lisa ScagliottiVoters across 18 communities in Central Vermont this Town Meeting Day will be casting ballots on the Central Vermont Career Center’s $5.47 million proposed budget for the 2026-27 school year.
Copies of the Central Vermont Career Center Annual Report are available at local town offices and online here. Screenshot
The ballot asks voters to support a proposed budget for the coming fiscal year of $5,472,467, which represents a spending increase of 7.2% over the current year’s $5.1 million budget. District officials calculate an overall tuition increase of 4.9% charged to sending school districts, including Harwood.
With more than a dozen trade and technical programs, the career center serves students from six high schools around the region: Cabot, Montpelier, Twinfield, Harwood, Spaulding and U-32.
The corresponding school districts cover a total of 18 municipalities, including the six towns in the Harwood Unified Union School District: Barre City, Barre Town, Berlin, Cabot, Calais, Duxbury, East Montpelier, Fayston, Marshfield, Middlesex, Montpelier, Moretown, Plainfield, Roxbury, Waitsfield, Warren, Waterbury and Worcester.
Harwood students account for the third-largest group of attendees at the career center this year. Its annual report shares enrollment data from October, showing 37 students from the Harwood district. Spaulding sends the most with 84 students this year, U-32 sends 48; Montpelier sends 24 students.
District officials in the annual report outline highlights of the center’s current operations and future aspirations. The career center’s programs have been growing in popularity in recent years, with applicants exceeding the school’s capacity. For this year alone, the center had to turn away 174 applicants after it filled 240 spots. So far for next year, the school has already had 277 applications to fill 303 spots, according to the report.
Career center leaders are eager to move forward with plans for a new, larger modern facility with capacity for 450 students, replacing its space at Spaulding High School where it has operated since 1969. Those plans were dealt a setback in November, when voters rejected a proposal for a $149 million bond to build a new center on property in Barre Town.
Career center leaders and board members have gone back to the drawing board to brainstorm facility plans with the goal of still having new space for the center to substantially expand by 2029. (See this recent report from The Times Argus.)
Career center operations are funded through a combination of state funding and tuition charged to the sending school districts. Tuition for the career center is included in individual school district budgets. For the coming year, state funds will cover $3,383,342 of the center’s $5.47 million budget. The state’s contribution is up 4.4% for the coming year. Tuition will kick in another $2,054,626, according to the district’s budget presentation.
The tuition rate for 2026-27 is $21,874, representing an increase of 4.9% over the current year. The portion charged to sending school districts is $10,366 per student, according to the district’s budget presentation.
Staff salaries and benefits account for 70% of the budget. Increases in wages, benefits and supplies account for much of the increases for next year.
Also in 2026-27 school year, the career center plans to expand from 13 to 14 programs, adding instruction for students interested in early childhood education and adding additional capacity for its electrical technology program.
Other programs offered at the center include automotive technology, baking and culinary arts, building trades, cosmetology, digital media graphic design and videography, emergency medical service training, plumbing and heating, and welding.
See the Central Vermont Career Center’s website for its annual report and more information about Tuesday’s budget vote.