Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 5 > Chapter 3 - Proceedings by the Board; Judicial Review

• Accept: means to solicit, receive, or agree to receive. See
• Accumulated contributions: shall mean the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his or her individual account in the Pension Fund, together with regular interest thereon, as provided in subsection 1944(b) of this title. See
• Actuarial equivalent: shall mean a benefit of equal value under the actuarial assumptions last adopted by the Retirement Board under subsection 1943a(h) of this title. See
• Adjusted education payment: means the district's education spending per equalized pupil. See
• Administrator: means an individual licensed under this chapter the majority of whose employed time in a public school, school district, or supervisory union is assigned to developing and managing school curriculum, evaluating and disciplining personnel, or supervising and managing a public school system or public school program. See
• Adoptee: means a person who is adopted or is to be adopted. See
• Adult education and literacy: means a program of public education adapted to the needs of persons who are beyond compulsory school age, and who have not completed high school education. See
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means the Agency of Transportation. See
• agency: means all State offices that provide public assistance, all State offices that provide State-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities, any federal and nongovernmental offices that have agreed to be designated by the Secretary as a voter registration agency, and any State or local agency designated by the Secretary as a voter registration agency. See
• Agency: means the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. See
• Agency: means the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. See
• Agency of Education: means the Secretary and staff necessary to carry out the functions of the Agency. See
• agricultural waste: means material originating or emanating from a farm or imported onto a farm that is determined by the Secretary or the Secretary of Natural Resources to be harmful to the waters of the State, including sediments; minerals, including heavy metals; plant nutrients; pesticides; organic wastes, including livestock waste; animal mortalities; compost; feed, and crop debris; waste oils; pathogenic bacteria and viruses; thermal pollution; silage runoff; untreated milk house waste; and any other farm waste as the term "waste" is defined in 10 V. See
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Annuity: shall mean annual payments for life derived from the accumulated contributions of a member. See
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Applicant: means an individual applying for a license. See
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• approved education program: includes an "approved teen parent education program. See
• Approved independent school: means an independent school that is approved under section 166 of this title. See
• Articulation agreement: means a written agreement between a secondary school and a postsecondary institution or registered apprenticeship program specifying the responsibilities for each party to the agreement with respect to student apprentices working towards completion of a registered apprenticeship program or a postsecondary degree. See
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Average final compensation: shall mean :

• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Base education amount: means a number used to calculate categorical grants awarded under this title that is equal to $6,800. See
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary: shall mean any person in receipt of a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by the System. See
• between: as used in this title in respect to a specified age of a student, shall mean the period of time commencing on the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age first specified and ending on the day next preceding the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age last specified. See
• biennially: shall mean the year in which a regular session of the General Assembly is held. See
• Board: means the Transportation Board. See
• Board: shall mean the board of trustees of the System provided for in section 1942 of this title to administer the System. See
• Board of civil authority: means , unless otherwise provided by municipal charter, in the case of a town, the selectboard and town clerk and the justices residing therein; in the case of a city, the mayor, aldermen, city clerk, and justices residing therein; in the case of a village, the trustees, village clerk, and the justices residing therein; and, in any case, such suitable member or members of unrepresented or insufficiently represented political parties as may be appointed members of the board of civil authority under the provisions of section 2143 of this title. See
• Bullying: means any overt act or combination of acts, including an act conducted by electronic means, directed against a student by another student or group of students and that:

• Candidate: means an individual who has taken any affirmative action to become a candidate for public office. See
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Child: means a minor or an adult son or daughter, by birth or adoption. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Creditable service: shall mean membership service, any other service allowable under this chapter, and service transferred under 3 V. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department for Children and Families. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Domestic fowl: means laying-hens, broilers, ducks, turkeys, or any other number or type of fowl that the Secretary deems domestic fowl. See
• Earnable compensation: shall mean the full rate of compensation for the performance of professional services paid to a teacher when the teacher works the full normal working time for his or her position, in whatever manner paid, plus all additional wages received by a teacher for duties performed that provide direct educational value to the students. See
• Education spending: means the amount of the school district budget, any assessment for a joint contract school, career technical center payments made on behalf of the district under subsection 1561(b) of this title, and any amount added to pay a deficit pursuant to 24 V. See
• Educator: means any teacher or administrator requiring a license under this chapter. See
• Election: means the procedure whereby the voters of this State, or any of its political subdivisions, select persons to fill public offices or act on public questions. See
• Electorate: means the qualified voters in a school district voting at a properly warned school district meeting. See
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Elementary education: means a program of public school education adapted to the needs of students in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and the first six grades. See
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Endorsement: means the grade level and field in which an educator is authorized to serve. See
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• filed: means deposited in the regularly maintained office of the official with whom the filing is to be made. See
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
• General election: means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in even-numbered years. See
• general election: as used in this chapter , shall be deemed to include a special election, unless the context requires a different interpretation. See
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Give: means to offer, present, confer, pay, or deliver; also to agree or promise to do any of the foregoing. See
• Good standing: means a participant in a program administered under this chapter:

• Grades: means the division of the educational work of the public schools into 13 school year units beginning with kindergarten and thereafter numbered from one to 12 beginning with the lowest. See
• Group A member: any person who is first included in the membership of the System prior to July 1, 1981. See
• Group C member: any person who is first included in the membership of the System on or after July 1, 1990, any person who was a Group B member on June 30, 1990 who was in service on that date, and any person who was a Group B member on June 30, 1990 who was absent from service on that date who returns to service on or after July 1, 1990. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hazing: means any act committed by a person, whether individually or in concert with others, against a student in connection with pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization that is affiliated with an educational institution; and that is intended to have the effect of, or should reasonably be expected to have the effect of, humiliating, intimidating, or demeaning the student or endangering the mental or physical health of a student. See
• Hearing panel: means the persons assigned in individual cases to find facts, reach conclusions of law, and make decisions regarding compliance with standards for obtaining, retaining, and renewing licenses. See
• Home study program: means an educational program offered through home study that provides a minimum course of study and that is offered to not more than:

• Independent school: means a school other than a public school, which provides a program of elementary or secondary education, or both. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Kindergarten: means an educational program for children of one year adapted to the needs of students who will attend first grade the following year. See
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legal custody: means the right and duty to exercise continuing general supervision of a minor as authorized by law. See
• Legislative body: means the selectboard in the case of a town; the city council, mayor, and alder board in the case of a city; the trustees or bailiffs in the case of a village; the school board in the case of a school district; and the prudential committee in the case of a fire district. See
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means a license to engage in teaching or school administration, as the context requires, in the State and includes, unless the context requires otherwise, the endorsements the licensee has applied for or possesses. See
• Licensee: means an individual licensed under this chapter. See
• Licensing action: means action that suspends, revokes, limits, or conditions licensure or certification in any way and includes warnings, reprimands, probation, and administrative penalties. See
• Livestock: means cattle, mature cow/calf pairs, youngstock, heifers, bulls, swine, sheep, goats, horses, or any other number and type of domestic animal that the Secretary deems livestock. See
• Local election: means any election that deals with the selection of persons to fill public office or the settling of public questions solely within a single municipality. See
• Manure: means livestock waste in solid or liquid form that may also contain bedding, spilled feed, water, or soil. See
• maximum allowance: shall mean the sum of the annuity and the pension. See
• Media adviser: means an individual employed, appointed, or designated by a school or its governing body to supervise or provide instruction relating to school-sponsored media. See
• Medical Board: shall mean the board of physicians provided for in subsection 1942(k) of this title. See
• Member: shall mean any person included in the System pursuant to section 1933 of this chapter. See
• Membership service: shall mean service as a member for which credit is allowable as provided in subsection 1936(a) of this title. See
• Military service: means active service by any person, as a member of any branch or department of the U. See
• Minor: means a person who has not attained 18 years of age. See
• minor political party: is a ny political party that is not a major political party. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• NRCS: means the "Natural Resources Conservation Service" formerly named the "Soil Conservation Service" of the U. See
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: shall include affirmation where by law an affirmation may be substituted. See
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Office: means the office within the Agency responsible for professional standards and educator licensing. See
• Parent: means a person who is legally recognized as a mother or father or whose consent to the adoption of a minor is required under subdivision 2-401(a)(1)-(4) or (6) of this title. See
• Participating employee: means a school employee who is eligible for and has elected to receive health benefit coverage through a school employer. See
• Pension: shall mean annual payments for life derived from money provided by the State. See
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body politic, including a trustee, receiver, assignee, or other similar representative. See
• Person: means any individual, business entity, labor organization, public interest group, or other organization, incorporated or unincorporated. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physical custody: means the physical care and supervision of a minor. See
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Political party: is a ny group of individuals that has organized and filed its certificate of organization with the Secretary of State, pursuant to chapter 45 of this title. See
• Political subdivision: means any county, municipality (including cities, towns, and villages), representative district, senatorial district, school district, fire district, water, sewer, or utility district, ward, and any consolidation of the foregoing entities authorized under the laws of this State. See
• Prekindergarten child: means a three- or four-year-old child who is enrolled in a prekindergarten program offered by or through a school district pursuant to rules adopted under section 829 of this title or who is receiving essential early education services offered pursuant to section 2956 of this title. See
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Primary: means any election that precedes a general or special election, for the purpose of permitting political parties to nominate, from among all of the candidates for any office, only that number of candidates equal to the number of persons to be elected to that office at the succeeding general or special election. See
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public school: means an elementary school or secondary school operated by a school district. See
• Public school: means an elementary school or secondary school for which the governing board is publicly elected. See
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• RAPs: means "Required Agricultural Practices" as defined by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets pursuant to subchapter 1 of this chapter. See
• Records: means all documents, exhibits and data pertaining to an adoption, whether collected prior to or after the decree of adoption. See
• Registered apprenticeship: means an apprenticeship or on the job training program registered by the State Apprenticeship Council under 21 V. See
• Regular interest: shall mean interest at such rate as may be established from time to time by the Board as provided in subsection 1943(b) of this title. See
• Relative: means a grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, first cousin, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, niece, or nephew of a person, whether related to the person by the whole or the half blood, affinity, or adoption. See
• Relinquishment: means the voluntary surrender to an agency by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes of the minor's adoption, of the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to the minor, including legal and physical custody of the minor. See
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Representative district clerk: means , in each representative district, the clerk of that town or part of a town having the largest population in the district. See
• Resident: means a natural person who is domiciled in this State as evidenced by an intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in the State indefinitely and to return there if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent with that intent. See
• Retirement: shall mean withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this chapter. See
• Retirement System: shall mean the State Teachers' Retirement System of Vermont, as defined in section 1932 of this title. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• School: means a public school operating in the State. See
• School board: means the board of school directors elected to manage the schools of a school district, the prudential committee of an incorporated school district, the supervisory union board of directors, and the supervisors of unorganized towns and gores. See
• School district: means town school districts, union school districts, interstate school districts, city school districts, unified union districts, and incorporated school districts, each of which is governed by a publicly elected board. See
• School district: means a town school district, city school district, incorporated school district, the member school districts of an interstate school district, a union school district, a unified union district, or an unorganized town or gore. See
• School district meeting: means a duly warned meeting of a school district at which questions are presented to the electorate. See
• School employee:

• School employer: means a supervisory union or school district as those terms are defined in section 11 of this title. See
• School year: means the year beginning July 1 and ending the next June 30. See
• School year: means a year beginning on July 1 and ending on the following June 30. See
• School-sponsored media: means any material that is prepared, written, published, or broadcast as part of a school-supported program or activity by a student journalist and is distributed or generally made available as part of a school-supported program or activity to an audience beyond the classroom in which the material is produced. See
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Transportation. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of State. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Education. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets. See
• Senatorial district clerk: means the county clerk for those towns within a senatorial district aggregating the largest population. See
• Service: shall mean all service as a teacher for which compensation is received. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
• Special election: means an election that is not provided for by law to be held at stated intervals. See
• Standards Board: means the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators established under section 1693 of this title. See
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See
• State: shall mean the State of Vermont. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State Board: means the State Board of Education established by chapter 3 of this title. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stepparent: means a person who is the spouse or surviving spouse of a parent of a child but who is not a parent of the child. See
• Student apprentice: means an individual, enrolled in a school, who is participating in a student apprenticeship program approved by the regional advisory board and who is employed in accordance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. See
• Student apprenticeship program: means a skill-based education program that coordinates and integrates classroom instruction with a structured, work-based learning experience. See
• Student journalist: means a student enrolled at a school who gathers, compiles, writes, edits, photographs, records, or prepares information for dissemination in school-sponsored media. See
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Superintendent: means the chief executive officer of a supervisory union and each school board within it. See
• Supervisory district: means a supervisory union that consists of only one school district, which may be a unified union district. See
• Supervisory union: means an administrative, planning, and educational service unit created by the State Board under section 261 of this title, that consists of two or more school districts; if the context clearly allows, the term also means a supervisory district. See
• Teacher: means an individual licensed under this chapter the majority of whose employed time in a public school district or supervisory union is assigned to furnish to students direct instructional or other educational services, as defined by rule of the Standards Board, or who is otherwise subject to licensing as determined by the Standards Board. See
• Teacher: shall mean any licensed teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, or any professional licensed by the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators who is regularly employed, or otherwise contracted if following retirement, for the full normal working time for his or her position in a public day school or school district within the State, or in any school or teacher-training institution located within the State, controlled by the State Board of Education, and supported wholly by the State; or in certain public independent schools designated for such purposes by the Board in accordance with section 1935 of this title. See
• Teen parent education program: means a program designed to provide educational and other services to pregnant pupils or parenting pupils, or both. See
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: includes "city. See
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Town clerk: means a town officer elected pursuant to section 2646 of this title or otherwise elected or appointed by law and performing those duties prescribed by 24 Vt. See
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Vote tabulator: means a machine that registers and counts paper ballots and includes optical scan tabulators. See
• Voter: means an individual who is qualified to vote in an election in this State or a political subdivision of this State, and whose name is registered on the checklist of a political subdivision of the State. See
• Year: means a calendar year. See