Vermont's State Board of Education is beginning to decide which school districts will be forced to merge under the state's consolidation law.
Vermont Public Radio reports the board this week considered 30 merger proposals.
Districts over the last three years have been working on their own merger plans. Vermont's acting education secretary issued a statewide plan that includes recommendations about which schools should merge.
The board on Wednesday largely agreed with those recommendations.
The board agreed to allow 10 school districts to remain independent. Meanwhile, the board moved to merge a number of districts that feed into a single high school or abut merged districts.
The board will reconsider several split decisions and remaining merger proposals.
Twenty-one towns have suggested they want to fight the forced mergers in court.
