Valley News

The percentage of students with disabilities in Vermont’s education system is on the rise, while many school districts lack the capacity to meet their needs, according to a new report released this week by the state Agency of Education. While overall student enrollment in Vermont’s schools has decreased, the number of students on individualized education programs, or IEPs, has increased at a rate outpacing the nation since the 2019-20 school year, the report said. The analysis presented in the report paints “a complex picture of special education in Vermont,” the report reads. Experts said that students with IEPs in Vermont are spending more of their time in regular classroom settings — a positive finding in the report. But at the same time, school districts in Vermont are sending more students with IEPs to out-of-district schools at a rate more than double the national average. Meanwhile, the gap in four-year high school graduation rates between students with and without IEPs increased to 19 percentage points in 2024.