Original Research by School Decision on Mount Anthony Union High School District #14
Mount Anthony Union High School District #14 serves grades six through twelve in Bennington County, Vermont, operating two schools: Mt. Anthony Union Middle School and Mt. Anthony Senior Union High School. The enrollment is sizable for a Vermont secondary district, and the student body is predominantly white, with small representation from Hispanic, multiracial, Black, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native students.
State assessment results were not available in the data provided, so we cannot characterize how students are performing on Vermont's standardized tests. The same gap applies to the four-year graduation rate; no figure was reported, which means we cannot speak to how the district's students fare in completing high school on time. Free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, individualized education program rates, and English learner figures were also missing, so the economic and special-population picture is incomplete from what we have.
What the comparison data does show is a chronic absenteeism rate that sits in the bottom quartile among Bennington County's districts, meaning a substantial share of students are chronically absent compared with peer districts in the county. The rate here exceeds the highest among the six districts with comparable data. This is a figure a parent may want to look into further with the school, as chronic absence can affect both individual learning and the classroom environment. On the spending side, per-pupil current expenditure falls in the middle range, upper half, among the county's districts, suggesting the district invests at a moderate level relative to its neighbors.
The housing market across the district's contributing areas is more affordable than both the Vermont state benchmark and the national one. Home values are weighted most heavily toward Bennington, the largest contributor, where typical home values run lower than the district-wide weighted figure. Pownal and Shaftsbury also carry meaningful weight and sit in a similar range. North Bennington contributes at a somewhat higher level. The district's overall affordability ratio sits below the national price-to-income benchmark, and with mortgage rates in the mid-six percent range, the monthly cost of ownership remains a factor for families considering a move into the area.
Publicly reported developments in the district point to a period of fiscal change. Vermont passed education funding legislation in 2024 that reworked the state's pupil-weighting formula, adjusting how funding flows to districts based on student demographics. This reform has produced property tax rate shifts that affect what families pay, and the direction of those shifts depends on each district's profile under the new weights. In the same period, voters in the Mount Anthony Union High School District approved the district's own budget on Town Meeting Day, while a separate Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union budget was rejected, prompting a revote. That rejection reflected community concern about spending levels and tax impact, and it signals an engaged electorate weighing cost against program needs.
No data was available on program offerings, course access, Advanced Placement or career pathways, staffing ratios, discipline, or school climate measures. The locale brief for the towns the district covers was not provided, so we cannot offer a grounded picture of community character, local amenities, or commute patterns. What we can say is that the district draws from several Bennington County communities, and the housing data suggests a working-to-middle-class region where home prices remain below state and national midpoints.
For a family evaluating this district, the available evidence paints a partial picture. Enrollment is substantial for the grade band, spending is moderate among peers, and the community is actively engaged in budget decisions. The chronic absenteeism rate stands out as an area worth asking about directly. Beyond that, the absence of test scores, graduation data, and program information means a fuller assessment would require contacting the district or visiting its schools to understand the academic pathway, support services, and classroom experience in more detail.
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