General Provisions

V.S.A. tit. 16, ch. 57, subch. 1

in effect

16 V.S.A. § 1981 Definitions

1981. Definitions As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Administrator” means any person so licensed by the Vermont Standards Board for professional educators, the majority of whose employed time in a school or a school district is devoted to serving as superintendent, assistant superintendent, assistant to the superintendent, supervisor, principal, or assistant principal. (2) “Professional negotiations” means the meeting, conferring, consulting, discussing, and negotiating in good faith between a school board negotiations council and a teachers’ organization negotiations council or an administrators’ organization negotiations council to reach agreement. (3) “School board” means the board of school directors of a school district or its equivalent in any independent elementary or secondary school. (4) “School district” means any public school district or any independent elementary or secondary school within the State that directly or indirectly receives support from public funds. (5) “Teacher” means any person licensed employable as a teacher by the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators who is not an administrator as defined in this section. (6) A “teachers’ organization” or an “administrators’ organization” means an organization, committee, council, group, or separate unit thereof in which teachers or administrators participate and that exists, in whole or in part, for the purpose of professional negotiation. (7) “Agency fee” means a fee deducted by an employer from the salary or wages of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization, which is paid to the employee organization that is the exclusive bargaining agent for the bargaining unit of the employee. The agency fee shall not exceed 85 percent of the amount payable as dues by members of the employee organization and shall be deducted in the same manner as dues are deducted from the salary or wages of members of the employee organization and shall be used to defray the costs of chargeable activities. (8) “School board negotiations council” means, for a supervisory district, its school board, and, for school districts within a supervisory union or a cooperative educational service area, the body comprising representatives designated by each school board within the supervisory union or supervisory union board within each cooperative educational service area and by the supervisory union board or board of a cooperative educational service area to engage in professional negotiations with a teachers’ or administrators’ organization. (9) “Teachers’ organization negotiations council” or “administrators’ organization negotiations council” means the body comprising representatives designated by each teachers’ organization or administrators’ organization within a supervisory district, supervisory union, or cooperative educational service area to act as its representative for professional negotiations. Added 1969, No. 127, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1969; amended 1989, No. 118, § 3; 1991, No. 24, § 11; 2005, No. 25, § 1; 2005, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; eff. July 1, 2007; 2007, No. 82, § 29; 2009, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2013, No. 37, § 10; 2013, No. 56, § 24, eff. May 30, 2013; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 304, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2017, No. 74, § 22; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 89; 2023, No. 168 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. July 1, 2026.

16 V.S.A. § 1982 Rights

1982. Rights (a) Teachers shall have the right to or not to join, assist, or participate in any teachers’ organization of their choosing. However, teachers who choose not to join the teachers’ organization, recognized as the exclusive representative pursuant to section 1992 of this chapter, shall pay the agency fee in the same manner as teachers who choose to join the teachers’ organization pay membership fees. The teachers’ organization shall indemnify and hold the school board harmless from any and all claims stemming from the implementation or administration of the agency fee. (b) Principals, assistant principals, and administrators other than superintendents and assistant superintendents shall have the right to or not to join, assist, or participate in any administrators’ organization or as a separate unit of any teachers’ organization of their choosing. However, subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, administrators other than the superintendents and assistant superintendents who choose not to join the administrators’ organization, recognized as the exclusive representative pursuant to section 1992 of this chapter, shall pay the agency fee in the same manner as administrators who choose to join the administrators’ organization pay membership fees. The administrators’ organization agrees to indemnify and hold the school harmless from any and all claims stemming from the implementation or administration of the agency fee. (c) The school board or any employee of the school board serving in any capacity or any other person or organization shall not interfere with, restrain, coerce, or discriminate in any way against or for any teacher or administrator engaged in activities protected by this legislation. (d) A teachers’ or administrators’ organization shall not charge the agency fee unless it has established and maintained a procedure to provide nonmembers with: (1) An audited financial statement that identifies the major categories of expenses and divides them into chargeable and nonchargeable expenses. (2) An opportunity to object to the amount of the agency fee sought, and to place in escrow any amount reasonably in dispute. (3) Prompt arbitration by an arbitrator selected jointly by the objecting fee payer and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization or pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association to resolve any objection over the amount of the agency fee. The costs of arbitration shall be paid by the teachers’ or administrators’ organization. (e) Nothing in this section shall require an employer to discharge an employee who does not pay the agency fee. (f) A teacher or administrator who is a member of the teachers’ or administrators’ organization shall have the right to automatic membership dues deductions. Upon receipt of a signed authorization to commence automatic membership dues deductions from a teacher or administrator, the school board shall, as soon as practicable and in any event, not later than 30 calendar days after receiving the authorization, commence withholding from the teacher’s or administrator’s wages the amount of membership dues certified by the teachers’ or administrators’ organization. The school board shall transmit the amount withheld to the teachers’ or administrators’ organization on the same day as the teacher or administrator is paid. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require a member of a teachers’ or administrators’ organization to participate in automatic dues deduction. Added 1969, No. 127, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1969; amended 2005, No. 25, § 2; 2013, No. 37, § 11; 2019, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

16 V.S.A. § 1983 Right to be heard

1983. Right to be heard Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any individual or organization representative, subject to reasonable rules of procedure that may be adopted by the school board, from appearing before the school board to be heard, but not to negotiate, on any matters of school district operation. Added 1969, No. 127, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1969; amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 174, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.

16 V.S.A. § 1984 Access to new teachers or administrators in bargaining unit

1984. Access to new teachers or administrators in bargaining unit (a) A school board shall provide a teachers’ or administrators’ organization that is the exclusive representative of the teachers or administrators in a bargaining unit with an opportunity to meet with each newly hired teacher or administrator in the bargaining unit to present information about the teachers’ or administrators’ organization. (b)(1) The meeting shall occur during the new teacher’s or administrator’s orientation or, if the school board does not conduct an orientation for newly hired teachers or administrators, within 30 calendar days from the date on which the teacher or administrator was hired. (2) If the meeting is not held during the new teacher’s or administrator’s orientation, it shall be held during the new teacher’s or administrator’s regular work hours and at his or her regular worksite or a location mutually agreed to by the school board and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization. (3) The employee organization shall be permitted to meet with the employee for not less than 60 minutes. (4) The teacher or administrator shall be paid for attending the meeting at his or her regular rate of pay. (c)(1) Within 10 calendar days after hiring a new teacher or administrator, the school board shall provide the teachers’ or administrators’ organization, as appropriate, with his or her name, job title, worksite location, work telephone number and e-mail address, home address, personal e-mail address, home and personal cellular telephone numbers, and date of hire to the extent that the school board is in possession of such information. (2) The teachers’ or administrators’ home address, personal e-mail address, and home and personal cellular telephone numbers shall be kept confidential by the employer and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization and shall be exempt from copying and inspection under the Public Records Act. (d) The school board shall provide the teachers’ or administrators’ organization with not less than 10 calendar days’ notice of an orientation for newly hired teachers or administrators in its bargaining unit. Added 2019, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

16 V.S.A. § 1985 Annual list of teachers or administrators in bargaining unit

1985. Annual list of teachers or administrators in bargaining unit (a) Annually, or on a more frequent basis if mutually agreed to by the school board and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization, the school board shall provide the teachers’ or administrators’ organization that is the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit with a list of all teachers or administrators in that bargaining unit. (b) The list shall include, as appropriate, each teacher’s or administrator’s name, work location, job classification, and contact information. As used in this section, “contact information” includes a teacher’s or administrator’s home address, personal e-mail address, and home and personal cellular telephone numbers to the extent that the school board is in possession of such information. (c) To the extent possible, the list shall be in alphabetical order by last name and provided in electronic format. (d) The list shall be kept confidential by the school board and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization and shall be exempt from copying and inspection under the Public Records Act. Added 2019, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 16, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

16 V.S.A. § 1986 Noninterference with right to testify

1986. Noninterference with right to testify (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, no teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school district or supervisory union shall be subject to discipline by the school district or supervisory union for testifying before the General Assembly or a committee of the General Assembly or before the State Board of Education. (b) A teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school district or supervisory union who testifies before the General Assembly or a committee of the General Assembly or before the State Board of Education shall not divulge information that is confidential to the school district or supervisory union or to its students or staff and may be disciplined by the individual’s employer for divulging such confidential information. (c) A teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school district or supervisory union who testifies before the General Assembly or a committee of the General Assembly or before the State Board of Education shall, unless authorized by the individual’s employer to testify on the employer’s behalf, state for the record that the individual is not testifying on behalf of the individual’s employer. Added 2021, No. 111 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 11, 2022.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/16/057Fetched: 10/21/2026