A lawsuit challenging Vermont’s school aid system has won a reprieve.
The suit, filed by a group of students and taxpayers in three southern Vermont towns before lawmakers overhauled the state’s school finance system in 2003, was dismissed by a state court last month.
But the Vermont Supreme Court has ordered the lower court to further review the case.
A lawyer for the group acknowledged that the new school funding law, Act 68, which replaced the controversial Act 60, largely fixes the taxing side of the formula. But it fails to take into account their disproportionate costs for transportation, special education and other expenses, he said.
The lower court ruled that the matter was legislative, not judicial. The high court disagreed and said the plaintiffs may amend their case to argue against Act 68. A hearing date has not been set.
