To the Editor:
It is imperative that we band together as a community to pass the school budget on May 30.
As longtime residents of Fayston, both of us have devoted our careers to the health and well-being of our community (Kathy as a Harwood teacher 1981- 2021 and Jared on the Fayston Select Board, 1994- 2024). We each have worked to build and sustain civic and educational institutions that support a strong community and a rigorous academic experience for all children in our district. We urge everyone in the HUUSD to vote for the revised school budget proposal on May 30.
The fact that over one-third of Vermont school budgets were defeated in the first vote this year and that our budget (as well as many others) didn’t pass on a second vote sent the message to the state that the current situation of funding education is broken; we all know this. Voting down our new HUUSD proposed budget will not solve the challenges that the current education funding system has created; the state legislature has to address the education funding problem. Voting down this budget won’t remedy this structural problem; it will only penalize our children.
Our board has responded to the two failed votes. On May 30, the public will be asked to consider a revised budget proposal that includes an additional $945,446 in cuts, including a total reduction of 27.5 administrative, teaching and support positions as well as programming across all our schools. This latest budget reflects a reduction of $3,000,000 from the original budget request. These cuts are severe. They will significantly impact the quality of the educational programming that our kids receive. We must pass this budget.
We will vote for this revised budget. We urge everyone to support the proposal put forward by our HUUSD Board on May 30. Town clerks are also offering absentee ballots which can be mailed to your home.
Let’s keep pressure on our legislators to solve the fundamental problems underlying our current system of funding education, while we continue to support a high-quality, rigorous education for our children.
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