Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Chair Peter Conlon]: On January 30. This Friday morning, we are going to be spending our time with some bill introductions. Not to rate the bill introductions, but I suspect that this is gonna be our favorite one of the day because we get to have students in here speaking with us as well. This is a bill sponsored by our own committee member, and I'm going to turn it right over to her. This is h six forty. Welcome.

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: Hi. Thank you. So my name is representative Leanne Harple of Orleans District 4. And to give you some context about this bill, I sat in as a volunteer for a day at Governor's Institute of the, it's the Institute of Policy. Sorry, can one of the kids Global Issues and Youth Action. Thank you. And this was actually two

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: or was it last summer?

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: So I sat in, and there were these mock activities for kids to create a bill with legislature. And so first they had to identify a problem and then they had to identify a solution. And so I was in the education committee and the students that chose the education committee identified the problem that with all of the major changes that Act 73 is bringing to our schools, they felt that students hadn't had enough of an opportunity to weigh in about how those changes would be found. And so the solution that they proposed for this mock bill was to have voting student members on the school board. And it occurred to me after listening to how thoughtfully they approached this task that that was not a bad idea and it was worth seeing through as actual legislation for them. And you can't do that if you don't have a legislator to sponsor that. So I agreed to take them through this process. And so here we are. So their idea is to have seventh through twelfth graders be on all school boards, but only ninth through twelfth graders actually having voting participation. And that would be one per school board district. So for instance, if a school board district covered more than one high school, then they wouldn't necessarily get two ninth graders and two tenth graders. They would only get one from each grade regardless of how many high schools that included. Another really thoughtful part that they came up with was that they didn't want an elected member by their school because they didn't want it to be popularity contest. And so they were looking at different ways that that student could get selected. And I was also advised by legislative council that there are some constitutional issues with that being a student on a municipal ballot. And Beth can maybe go into those better than I can. But so the plan that they came up with was that the school board will come up with a process for which the superintendent selects those four school board members. And so that could include, for instance, like an essay or an application or an interview. And I think that that would do some vetting to make sure that the student who was selected was really thoughtful and that really was able to do that job. Not necessarily the one with the best grades. I mean, the school can think about that criteria and the schools and the students know each other best. I think the timing for this is really good because we may be moving towards a place where our individual school boards are no longer voting on budgets. And I think that that is one of the bigger concerns that people might have is that minors would be voting on budgets, but that may not even be the case with this. But I also think that regardless, it really gives us an opportunity to put our trust in the voices of young people who deserve to be at the table. This is affecting them more than anyone else. I am a huge advocate for student voice. I have been the student advisor of our youth student leadership council at my school. And so I think this is a really important opportunity for students to get to have a seat at the table. Are there other aspects of this bill you'd like

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: to hear about before I turn it over to the students?

[Chair Peter Conlon]: I think actually maybe we'll do a quick walk through with legislative council before we turn it over to the students.

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: I really want the students to be the ones to sell you this bill.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Any questions for representative Harple before we allow her to leave the witness seat? All right, thank you very much. You're welcome. We'll get the legal one now.

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: Morning, Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel.

[Unidentified committee member]: I'm gonna

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: share my screen. How's that?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Great.

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: So we're going to walk through H-six 40 as introduced. This is an act relating to adding voting student members to school district boards. So it starts with some intent language to signal that it is your intent to, if you were to blow up current law and create school boards from scratch, you would include student voting members on them. Section two is an amendment. So this is contemplating future, and section two and the rest of the bill is making amendments to current law. So we're in the school board chapter in title 16, section five sixty four, and we're adding a brand new section, school boards, student members, notwithstanding sections five fifty eight, seven twenty nine and seven forty seven of this title, which are all governed school board membership. Five fifty eight is in the school board chapter and is kind of like the general statute, and then seven twenty nine and seven forty seven are specific to Unified Union and Union High School and Union Elementary School Districts. Or any other provision of law to the contrary, the school board of a town, city or incorporated or union school district, or the member districts of a joint contact district or a regional technical center school district, which is organized to provide secondary education for its resident students or maintains a regional technical center, shall have student members on the school board in accordance with this section. Each school board of a school district that is organized to provide for the education of its resident students in grades nine through 12 shall have one voting student member from each of grades nine, ten, eleven, and twelve for a total of four voting student members, regardless of how many high schools the school district operates. So if you are a union elementary school, you're not gonna have student members on your school board. But if you operate or you organized to provide high school education, so that would be non operating and operating, you're gonna have four total, one from grade nine, one from ten, one from eleven, one from 12. Each school board of a school district that is organized to provide for the education of its resident students in grades seven and eight shall have one non non student non voting student member from each of grades seven and eight for a total of two non voting student members, again, regardless of how many schools the district operates. So two nonvoting student members, one in grade seven, one in grade eight, if you are organized to provide education in grades seven and eight. Both nonvoting and voting student school board members shall serve as a board member for the same length as a non student member, provided, however, I'm on page three, that in the case of a school district that operates schools for some or all of the applicable grades, the student school board members shall also be enrolled in and attending a school operated by the district the entire time they serve as a school board member. If a school board member graduates before the student's term expires, the student shall be ineligible to serve on the school board and a new student school board member shall be appointed pursuant to the process developed under subdivision four of the subsection. So you have to actually be a resident of the school district to serve. Both non voting and voting students school board members shall be appointed by the superintendent of the school district, following a process adopted by the school board that enables secondary students to participate in the choice of student members. So voting student school board members are going be appointed by the superintendent, but the process for those names to get to the superintendent or the pool from which the superintendent could pick from is going to depend on the process adopted by each school board. Nothing in this section shall preclude a school board from appointing a non voting student member or members. So you can have non voting members irregardless. The provisions of this section shall supersede any educational charter provision or school district articles of agreement to the contrary. And this act would take effect on 07/01/2026.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Anybody have any clarifying questions?

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: Can I offer a clarifying comment?

[Chair Peter Conlon]: A clarifying comment.

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: One of the things that I was talking with Jane Nichols about was that, and I don't know if this isn't really in the bill yet, but that students would probably not get to sit in on like the contract renewals or terminations of their actual teachers at the school because that's a huge conflict of interest. We take care of that.

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: You can easily add that language.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: I got a little confused when it came to operating, non operating. So if you are currently a non operating school district, you do or you do not, you would or you would not be required to have student members on your

[Unidentified committee member]: You would be.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: You would be.

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: The operation comes into play in Subdivision 3. So from the bottom of page two onto the top of page three, if you operate a school, your student school board members have

[Unidentified committee member]: to actually be attending a school in your district. So,

[Chair Peter Conlon]: this is a clarifying question, but also something for us to think about. So I look at Hancock Grand Isle School District, it's got five school board members. Under this bill, they would be then required to add four more student members. Is that an accurate statement?

[Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Counsel]: Yes. If they are organized to provide education for grades nine, ten, eleven, and twelve, I don't know. And if they were also organized to provide education grades seven and eight, then that would be two additional but non voting student members.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: If you were a non operating K-twelve district, but you have a school board that's organized to make sure everybody's got a school to go to, then the answer is yes.

[Unidentified committee member]: You would have the- Eventually six more. Correct.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: So for us to think about. Any other questions? Thank you very much for that. Appreciate it. Okay, now, who is going first from our students who are here today? Is it Michelle? Toshu?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Could be. I'd say we let the people on Zoom go first, because they're at school right now.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Great. Okay, thanks. And that would be Isabelle and Libby. We'd love to hear from you right now. You're muted, just so you know.

[Isle Harrington]: Yes. Hi. Thank you. Can now

[Chair Peter Conlon]: both just introduce yourselves, and then we'd love to hear your Yeah.

[Isle Harrington]: Of course. So good morning. My name is Isle Harrington.

[Libby Gabel]: My name is Libby Gabel, and we are juniors at South Burlington High School. We thank you for your taking the time to listen to

[Isle Harrington]: our testimony today. So we were part of the group of students who were involved in the writing of this bill over the summer, and we think that now more than ever in Vermont, we need to be empowering our students and giving all the decisions given all the decisions being made around education in our state.

[Libby Gabel]: We are here testifying today in support of age six forty because as students who have almost finished their time in South Burlington School District, we have seen time and time again what students can do given the opportunity and the platform.

[Isle Harrington]: We're not school board reps, but I sit on my school student council, and we're both involved members of the South Burlington community. But we don't have the opportunity to vote and engage that with democracy because we're both only 17. But over the past few years, we have become more and more aware of what's going on in our communities surrounding our schools especially.

[Libby Gabel]: One thing that we always find ourselves hearing about is what's happening within the schools. We need to keep

[Isle Harrington]: in mind that students who are in school now are the next generation of Americans. So students in my class will be voting in the midterms this fall, and students who are seniors now are gonna be able to vote on our new budget in March. So it's a disservice to them and to our communities not to be looking to them as capable members of society for guidance around what the priorities need to be for education. They are the ones experiencing the everyday effects that the decisions around education create, and no one knows better what the student body needs than those who are a part of it.

[Libby Gabel]: No matter how hard teachers and administrators try, there are always going to be discrepancies between what they perceive and what the students perceive. And a large part of why that is, is because they don't give their students enough credit when it comes to hearing their experience. Again, no one better understands what the priorities of the students are than the students themselves. It is so incredibly hard to create policy that at its core needs to be for them when you don't understand what they truly need. For several years at this point, SB has had trouble passing its budget, and students are not unaware of what this means. But when it comes to what is being cut, their voices are left out of

[Isle Harrington]: the conversation almost completely. We know that there are platforms in place such as student councils and leadership clubs that exist in some form at most every school in Vermont and beyond, but the truth behind them is that they provide next to no support for students wanting to create meaningful change. Within my school district, groups such as our student council are treated in large part as glorified party planning committees and in many instances, are not taken seriously. For several years now, actions that our student council aims to take are quickly shot down by our administrators without real dialogue between the two groups. So these student groups at their core are really an illusion of power.

[Libby Gabel]: For this reason, there is also a lack of trust that exists between students and adults when it comes to what it means to have the power to create change because of the somewhat unfair perception of students that their opinions can only have so much weight because they don't have a degree or enough lived experience. But when it comes to the school environment and communities, priorities, and decisions being made that affect you, you don't need a degree to tell you what is important. You need your own experience. You need to have lived it. We want students to have a stake in their own education and a desire to have a platform to speak up. This can only improve what they take away from their education experience as a whole.

[Isle Harrington]: Within every community, there are students who are capable and passionate and determined enough to take on a responsibility like this, representing the interests of a larger body at the decision making table. But there are also too many students who don't think that they could do something meaningful enough. They don't think that they could write a bill, or they don't think they could go before the school board and talk about an issue because they don't know how, and they're not given the opportunity to try and learn how. At times, I've been frustrated that my voice does not hold the same weight as many adults in the room. Ultimately, it comes down to what we've seen time and time again, which is that students have no real power to create meaningful change while the adults in the room have the power to treat their voices as secondary opinions that can

[Libby Gabel]: be ignored whether they use this power or not. Age six forty would give students real concrete power and allow them to engage with both other students and adults. Ultimately, the goal of this bill is to demonstrate the commitment to giving young people a seat at the table, to involve them in a democratic process, and to teach them how to use their voice. There is strength and power in the voices of students, and we have witnessed it for ourselves when a large portion of our student population stood up to our admin last year to protect a beloved a beloved class that was

[Isle Harrington]: on the chopping block. You can also see it in the writing of this bill, which was facilitated almost entirely by high school students around Vermont. Young people have a desire to be heard, and we are the ones inheriting this society and this state in the future so that our future belongs to students as well.

[Libby Gabel]: We are grateful to everyone who works tirelessly to improve our education system and to those who advocate on the behalf of students. We hope that

[Isle Harrington]: with h six forty, we can create a meaningful partnership between students and adults that make student engagement a priority moving forward, and we thank you for your time today.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Great. Thank you both very much. That was really good. And just so you and all the other students who might be paying attention to this are aware, there was created eighteen months ago, a commission on the future of public education, which I sat on. And one of its recommendations to the legislature was that school boards always have voting student members on it. And so I think you're right in line with that. I have a question, and that is having been on a school board where we sort of went through this process of getting students on there, we also had a lot of discussion about how those students would be selected. And I'm really curious to know kind of how you arrived at the process you arrived at, it's suggested in the bill of a superintendent doing the appointing.

[Isle Harrington]: Yeah. Absolutely. So in SB, we actually do have two student representatives who sit on the school board as nonvoting members. So have a junior and a senior member. And I actually ran for that position last year, so I was very involved in the process. And at our school, it kind of consists of students creating creating an application with several, like, short answer questions, talking about their goals and what they hope to achieve if they were to get this position and lots of lots of things about their interest and how they would kind of present themselves in the world, what kind of opportunity they saw it as. So it was kind of presented as, like, a full application you had to fill out, and then it went to the school board, and they picked their finalists and held interviews. So it kind of came from that process that I had a lot of experience in watching and hearing both from my own experience and from other people's. So we kind of derived it from that where we want students anyone to have the opportunity to, like, apply, but ultimately, like, it needs to come down to, like, the school board and the superintendent to kinda decide who they think of the students would be the best fit on the board and would take the position seriously. Because we know, like, there are obviously a lot of issues with this being, like, a student elected position in any capacity. We know that that's not possible. So we thought this was the most equitable way to make sure that the student was both, like, capable and serious about the position that everyone also had opportunity to apply.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Why that process rather than voting within the school on the for the members who would be elected?

[Libby Gabel]: So the reason that we decided to go, like, that direction was because voting within the school, like having the students vote on on a on a member is kind of one of the issues that we have with student leadership groups in the school and in other schools. And so one example would be like student council. It kind of becomes like a popularity competition where students that run kind of depending on like how many friends they have or like if people know them as a good student or talkative or popular, like, emphasis on the popular is, that's the reason that we decided that, this would be a better a better route to go because, yeah, students it just turns into a popularity contest. Yeah.

[Isle Harrington]: But keeping in mind that we also think that, like, student engagement in this process is really important. And one of the things we talked about when writing this bill was that we there's no way to enforce this, but we would be hoping that the students who are elected to the board would engage with their student communities in meaningful ways, that's holding forums or discussion groups to talk about policy and really get other students involved in the process and understanding what it's like to also empower them further. So it's not just a select group of students who is getting this opportunity to have their voices heard. They're sharing that experience with everybody else.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Great. Thank you both very much for your testimony. Any other questions from committee members? If not, you all set?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Set. Great.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: I'd say welcome, but welcome back. Thank you. My

[Joshua Dobrovich]: name is Joshua Dobrovich. I'm a senior at Howard Union High School, which is in Moortown. I'm a board member on the Howard Union Unified School District School Board. It's a mouthful. And I am also a board member on the Vermont Learners Association, which is a newly formed group made up of students from board representatives from across the state. I had no part in creating this bill, but my organization is very interested in it. Also work Would you repeat the name of the organization? The VLA, the Vermont Learners Association.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: And you say it's new?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Got it. Yep. I'm gonna have a conference in April. I think I'll invite everyone. So I worked in this building last year, which I hope you guys would know because I spent dozens of hours in that chair. It was a wonderful time. I don't want to answer all your questions. It It truly was. I'm being completely sincere here. I can start by talking because I am a student school representative, so I could talk about what it's like on my board right now, if that would be helpful to see my testimony through. We have four student representatives, two juniors and two seniors. And we have a nonbinding vote right now, which means we're up on the tally sheet. We get called on for roll call, and we raise our hands for motions. We can make motions ourselves, but we have a 0% wait. So it's just basically up to the good faith of our board members if they want to listen to us. And they do, but I don't think it's an ideal system. You asked Lisa about the process for selecting new school representatives. I could talk about how we do it. Our most senior representatives decide after applications are fielded by students from the incoming junior class, and then they bring their top people to the board. So it's more of a student led process rather than just an appointment. I don't actually know who makes the official appointment, but they get on the board once they've been cleared by the current senior student representatives. It's just interesting. But while being on this board, I voted for two budgets. And in those budgets, we've cut 6 and a half million dollars in spending, 50 teachers, blocks of our public preschool program, language classes for elementary school students, and last year nurses. We've increased class sizes all around our district, we've had to put off reducing any of our almost $90,000,000 of deferred maintenance. But despite of, and I think because of these circumstances, I've taken immense value away from being on a school board. I've been able to engage the people of Vermont's education system and governance structure, funding mechanisms, and the deeper reasons why we do things the way we do. And I've had these opportunities to interact with Education in Vermont in a way few other high school students have had the ability to. And through this, I've developed a sense of pride our mission to provide every student in the state with a more than adequate educational experience. And I've been grateful to share the weight of these difficult decisions that my board and virtually every other board across the state have been making recently. And the thoughts and feelings I have from serving have driven into this building many times, including right now to advocate for policy decisions and important issues for students across the state. And it's led me to canvas for school board vote budgets across my district, knocking door to door and holding signs by the road and generally just being an active and informed member of the greater Vermont community. The BLA believes the more democracy, the better. School boards have two constituencies, and right now, only one of them is being represented on the board. Taxpayers have a deservedly large say when it comes to school funding and being able to elect school board representatives. But students are directly impacted by the decisions a school board makes every day for the first eighteen years of their lives and more if you're not lucky. The bill would add Vermont to this elite coterie of states, New Hampshire, New York, and Massachusetts, to require school boards to have student representatives. Students bring immense value to the boards they serve. They inform policy and budget discussions through everyday lived experiences, and they report back on policy implementation. They engage in outreach in the student body to help pass budgets. As part of my time on the board two years ago, I organized a school wide dialogue to gather student priorities and input for a bond we were working on. But beyond that, when students serve a board, they serve themselves as well. This legislation is an opportunity to instill the importance of our education system and the need for its reform in countless students across Vermont and to give them the ability to actively pursue its betterment through their voting power and statute in their committees and representatives. And I see this bill as part of our movement towards educational reform and creating democratic systems that truly serve those they mean to represent. And I will support this message.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Thank you very much. In your role as a super rep on the hardwood board, are you included in executive session discussions?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: No. I'm not. And

[Chair Peter Conlon]: it's interesting that, you know, I've seen that when we had student representatives, we would have a roll call vote, which wasn't very often. Know Howard operates on this system of percentage weight votes and all of that. But it does put you in a position to have to actually publicly state support or not support for various measures. Do you find that at all? Do you struggle with that at all? Because you guys in Harvard have had to make some hard decisions.

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Yeah, absolutely. I've been supportive of budgets we passed because it's been literally the only possible solution that we have from these circumstances. So I haven't been in the position where I've needed to make a controversial decision because I think my board has been mostly in line with the decisions that we need to make to move forward despite these, well, with these circumstances. So I haven't felt public pressure to stick his, or just to take a stand against the board now.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Thank you for coming back and seeing us and We're sharing your really glad to

[Unidentified committee member]: have you here, Ken. I'm a school board member as well, and I have students on our school. We have students on our school board as well. Like you. They are nonvoting, of course. And I'm curious, you listed three states. I can't remember if Massachusetts was one, but I can't remember the other two.

[Joshua Dobrovich]: It was Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire. Very good.

[Unidentified committee member]: Are they voting members in there? Is there a variety? What's the stuff?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: New Hampshire and New York do have voting members, I believe. Massachusetts doesn't, but they're required by law to have a student committee involved in the board to advise. By any vote. Very helpful. Thank you.

[Unidentified committee member]: Representative Harple.

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: And one county in Maryland that does that. I saw that again. The biggest county in Maryland that serves, I think,

[Unidentified committee member]: like two thirds of their students as supporting board members.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Yeah. It's a small anecdote, but when I was on the school board, the student members said, We're gonna do a survey of all the students on a number of different things, and we're gonna

[Unidentified committee member]: bring it to the board.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: And some of them were big issues, but some of them were just really small quality of life things that were easy to do. Like, could you move the bike rack under the hang of eve so that the bikes don't get rained on or snowed Frankly, without student voice, something so small that was so easily achievable might not have happened. So it was kind of at that point I became a firm believer in the system that's like, yeah, there are a lot of big issues out there. There are lot of quality of life issues that boards don't have any idea of. I don't even think administrators have any idea of until you sort of somebody goes out and gathers the information. Yeah. Absolutely. So

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: one of the things I'm wondering is if in your discussions on the Vermont Learners Association where it seems like you're saying that you guys have actually discussed this legislation, I know that it's impossible to predict this, but do you think it is likely to have any kind of a positive effect on people, on students as they become adults, growing to feel more committed to Vermont because they were given a voice in Vermont and like more likely to stay in Vermont? I know that's impossible to predict, but has that come up at all?

[Joshua Dobrovich]: Well, speaking from personal experiences, I've felt much more attached and committed to the important work of our education system. I know many of my fellow VLA members have had the same experience. So just from talking from a personal standpoint, I'd say yes.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Thanks as always. Thank you very much. Thank for your work. Are you here to testify? Excellent. You are your your name is not on the agenda, so please sit right up there and introduce yourself.

[Unidentified committee member]: Oh, sorry,

[Rep. Leanne Harple]: I did add, Mayla. I did, right?

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Oh, it was, then I refreshed my agenda.

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: Hi, I'm Mayla Lelandis Marnell. I live in Middlesex and I'm currently a senior at U32 High School. I'm also a member of Vermont State Youth Council on the Education Committee. Thank you for taking the time to listen today. I am passionate about incorporating the youth voice into important decisions being made about our public education system. I'm here to express my support for age six forty, an act that would require voting student members on school district boards. I'm a representative of the Vermont Students for School Board Representation Advocacy Group, along with Libby and Isaac Baronsu. This summer, I attended a Governor's Institute for Global Issues and Youth Action, where I took an educational policy class and had the opportunity to learn about Vermont's education system, particularly the current proposed changes of Act 73. With the Governor's Institute, I visited the state house and participated in a mock education committee session co facilitated by Representative Harple and Representative Quimby, where I advocated with my peers for the importance of including youth voice in current decisions about education. In our mock committee, we drafted the first version of the bill H-six 40. Afterwards, our group of young people followed up with Representative Harple and she graciously brought the bill proposal to legislative council. I'm very excited to join you here today and express my support for H-six forty. Since I was in elementary school, I've engaged in democracy, taking the time to educate myself about the issues I care about, attending climate rallies and participating in activism clubs at my school. I am 17 years old and not yet old enough to vote. And yet I've been taking action to stand up for the causes I believe in for years. As a young person, I've often felt frustrated because it is hard to advocate for the issues I am passionate about when I cannot yet vote. Specifically regarding education, lawmakers are currently making many important decisions that will decide the future of our state's young people. I strongly believe in the importance of uplifting our voices and experiences as youth, which should inform your decisions about the future of our education system. H-six forty recognizes this and takes concrete action to improve to incorporate youth voice into our systems of decision making regarding education by ensuring voting student representatives on school boards. H-six forty requires voting student representatives on district school boards from each grade of high school, as well as non voting members in grades seven and eight. This requirement was designed intentionally to introduce students to the school board process in middle school, where they can contribute and engage and earn a vote in high school. The ability to vote as a high school student representative on the district board is the most important part of H six forty to me because it does not tokenize student voice but truly values what we have to say as young people. I've been told by many adults that they want to hear young people's voices. I've spoken of public comment during my school board meetings to advocate for protecting library and arts funding. I've met with my school principal to advocate for access to independent learning opportunities, and I've met with legislators as a member of the Vermont Youth Lobby. Every time, I'm thanks for sharing my opinion as a young person. But often it can feel like my opinion doesn't hold much weight since as a young person, I do not have the opportunities that adults have to vote and directly engage in democracy. H640 would not only involve youth in the democratic process of voting, but it would make a clear commitment to the importance of youth voice in these decisions. I am grateful to all of the legislators, school board members, administrators, and community members who put in the work every day to develop a plan for the future of Vermont's education system. But the ones who will be most affected directly by these decisions are the students. It is crucial that students are given a say in these decisions, and by giving us an opportunity to vote, you will be giving us a voice. H640 will provide a systemic pathway to youth engagement and participation in our school system and democracy, which is critical in order to ensure that Vermont youth are represented as we continue to tackle education reform as a state. Thank you.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Thank you very much. Did you say you are on the Washington Central School Board?

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: I'm not one of our student reps, but I'm involved in a lot of the student advocacy groups.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: And you said that you were part of the Vermont Youth Council?

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: Yeah, Vermont State Youth Council on the education committee.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Okay. Yeah. Can you tell us sort of the status of the Youth Council and sort of how often you meet and how many youths are involved?

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: Yeah, so there's, I want to say, between twenty five and thirty youth. I don't know the exact number on the Vermont State Youth Council. I believe we have five committees and I'm on the education committee and we have meetings twice a month on Zoom, as well as some in person meetings and then the executive committee, so the committee chairs all meet, I think a third time every month. And so we, as the state youth council provide recommendations to the governor. So that's one of the ways we currently have set up in our system that students have a voice and a say in these things. But again, it's just providing recommendations and our suggestions. It's not like we have a vote or a concrete say, it's that we get to provide our opinion and then it's up to the adults in power to decide if they take it with a grain of salt or actually take it into consideration. And so right now we're working on financing our recommendations and then the executive committee will present that to the governor this spring. And we're also working on supporting different bills. And so H-six 40 is one of the bills that we've been talking about as a state council, and I've been advocating for that we support as an entire council and specifically as the education committee, because it's another way to build youth voice directly into the system.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: It's important for us to remember that we created the Vermont State Youth Council for exactly that purpose, not just recommendations to the governor, but to do exactly what you're doing. There are other organizations out there as well, like Up For Learning and the Blue Cross Learning Association that we just heard about. I just It's always a good reminder that you guys are out there doing your work and that we need to check-in at least from time to time.

[Mayla Lelandis Marnell]: Yeah, and we actually had a meeting with Representative Harple as a whole council to get more information about H-six 40 and also we talked about Act 73 and what's going on with that.

[Chair Peter Conlon]: Any questions? Great, thanks very much for taking the time to visit us today and provide your testimony. Thank Committee, we are due back here at 11:20, so let's