The I.N.S.P.I.R.E. School for Autism in Brattleboro will close rather than argue before the State Board of Education that it shouldn’t be denied access to public monies.
On Friday, the year-round therapeutic school notified the Vermont Agency of Education that it will be closing on September 2. Starting this week, children will have a two-week break from school, thus Thursday will be their last day.
Since last year, the school has been placed on probation after state investigators found that the administrators seemed to be oblivious to their fundamental responsibility to provide content-area instruction to the students. According to officials, I.N.S.P.I.R.E. overcharged districts by at least $136,000 and had poor accounting methods.
Since then, Zoie Saunders, the education secretary for Vermont, has attempted to deny the school access to publicly supported tuition. A hearing on the issue was being scheduled by the State Board of Education, which has the last say over which private schools are eligible for public funding.
The school’s decision to close is a significant reversal. In addition to hiring a well-known Burlington law firm to present its case, I.N.S.P.I.R.E. had appointed a new executive director and committed to oppose the state. Lisa Kuenzler, the executive director of the school, stated in an email on Tuesday that the school had been keen to defend itself in front of the board.
“Unfortunately, we have not received enough contracts for the new school year to keep Inspire financially viable, and we recently lost a core teacher to another school due to inaccurate and unfair representations that were made public during this process,” she said.
Out-of-state students make up the majority of the student body. According to Agency of Education spokesperson Toren Ballard, there were four children from Vermont enrolled this school year, in addition to two from Massachusetts and eleven from New Hampshire.
It’s unclear how many of those students have yet to find another placement or how many would have returned the following year. Ballard stated that in order to find a place for Vermont pupils, the state was collaborating with other districts.
The state will not hold its scheduled hearing on whether the school should continue to be authorized to receive public financing because it is closing. However, Ballard stated that if necessary, the state is still able to reopen the hearing procedure.
Four former employees who voiced internal concerns about the school’s methods led to their termination, which prompted the state to investigate the institution. Their dismissal was not retaliatory, according to the school.
The educators Melissa McClure, Al Mitton, Suzy West, and Violet Witt expressed their disappointment and understanding of the school’s closing in a joint email. Families and students will find the transfer challenging, they added.
With a foundation of targeted support for educators and the organizations that manage our schools, we believe that this protracted process will finally lead to true inclusion for all students and an educational system that shines out as a model for learning, they continued.
A significant and costly part of the state’s educational system is played by therapeutic schools. Public schools are required by federal law to educate every student. Traditional public schools frequently pay to send pupils with more complicated needs to specialized therapeutic schools, such as I.N.S.P.I.R.E., which are typically private, when they determine they cannot adequately serve those students. The amount of money involved is significant: during the previous school year, the Brattleboro school was permitted by Vermont to charge over $99,840 per student.
In the face of regulatory scrutiny, I.N.S.P.I.R.E. is just the most recent in a series of therapeutic schools to close suddenly. According to VTDigger, the Li High School in Poultney closed under similar reasons in 2024, while Stone Path Academy in Moretown closed in 2022 as the state started investigating its finances.
