Beginning in 9th grade pupils may attend any public or private school. As the St. Johnsbury public school superintendent said a few years ago, this system has worked in that community since 1842. Later amendments, such as Act 271 of 1990, have not changed the basic idea. And while the choice option is legally one to be authorized by the community it is rare for a parental choice to be rejected where the town does not maintain an appropriate school. It has been reported that 33 of the state's 246 towns today have no public elementary school and 95 have no public high school.
Some towns have neither.
Should parents elect a school with a higher tuition than is locally authorized the balance is their obligation. John McLaughry who, then a state senator, authored Act 271 in 1990, suggests the town of Kirby as an example of how flexible this practice is. With a population of only 285, down from its high of 500 a century ago when it had six separate school districts, Kirby has no public school at any grade level. Its last public school closed in 1978, when it had only 11 pupils in grades 1-6. It now sends 41 elementary students to four public schools and three to an independent school.