To The Editor:
Voting results of the HUUSD bond are a direct correlation to the disconnect between the community's desires and the board’s desires. It is clear to many that the board seems to have their own agenda rather than the interests of the community.
At a HUUSD Board meeting in March, it was very evident that Torrey Smith (chair of the board) did not want to address the firing of varsity ice hockey coach Jake Grout who was terminated in February, despite over 1,400 people in the community respectfully petitioning for the reinstatement of Coach Grout. More community members signed the petition to reinstate Coach Grout than voted for your bond!
Thankfully, at an April HUUSD Board meeting, school board member Marlena Fishman led the charge for a board vote that passed calling for an independent investigation of the termination of Coach Grout. Then, the board received a letter that was signed by 14 district administrators urging the board to reconsider going forward with an investigation. Two of these 14 administrators (Harwood co-principals Meg McDonough and Laurie Greenberg) were going to be investigated and successfully convinced the board to have a second vote and reverse their decision and, therefore, not proceed with a thorough investigation that would gain answers for the community as well as Coach Grout.
The fact that the Harwood administration wanted the board to change their decision and not investigate clearly shows some degree of guilt and mishandling of the situation on the side of the administration. Our community has still not forgotten and this is yet another example of how the board has their own agenda.
Chris Butsch
Moretown
