This summer, the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board will begin work on developing a bond plan to be voted on in November 2024. The multi-school-year process will involve significant community engagement as the board works to create a plan the community can get behind after a $59.5 million bond resoundingly failed in November 2021, 2,599 votes (73%) to 975 (27%). That bond included major repairs/upgrades to the Harwood campus, as well as moving all district seventh- and eighth-graders to Crossett Brook Middle School and expanding that building (currently seventh- and eighth graders attend either Harwood Union Middle School or Crossett Brook Middle School). Merging middle schools has been a controversial topic for many community members, as well as some school board members.
The HUUSD Board began its preliminary discussions of bond planning at its May 10 meeting. The discussion centered around whether to include merging Harwood Union Middle School and Crossett Brook Middle School. The board decided to vote at its June 14 meeting on whether to exclude a merger from the bond or to ask the community for input on whether it should be included. That discussion will not be a vote on whether to merge but whether to keep it on the table when the board engages with the community around what to include in the bond.
“Keeping consolidation or any other of the other original "buckets" in our community presentations does not guarantee that they will be in the final proposal that the board would consider in spring 2024 after the community would have multiple opportunities to weigh in,” superintendent Dr. Mike Leichliter said via email.
Several board members discussed the unpopularity of the proposed middle school merger in the previous bond amongst their constituents and wanting to make a decision on the middle school issue early in the process. Moving students to Crossett Brook would present a transportation challenge for families, multiple members said. “I would 100% support taking that off the table right now if we could,” said Jonathan Young, Warren.
TIMELINE
Leichliter provided The Valley Reporter with an ambitious and detailed timeline for community engagement over the next year and a half. This summer, the board will develop a bond leadership team to include “key stakeholders which shall include board members, key administrators (superintendent, finance director, facilities director, HUMSHS co-principals), teachers, students, parents, community members.” That group will weed out any potential modifications to the 2021 bond “that may no longer be relevant or that may now be a critical infrastructure need not previously identified; update cost estimate based upon current construction costs; create a multimedia presentation to deliver throughout the community during the 2023-2024 school year. This presentation shall include all elements of the original bond and necessary modifications. Create a survey to be used through the community engagement period to determine the public perception of each element of the original bond plan.” Information will also be shared via social media.
The group will organize a kickoff meeting that will include a formal presentation on the Harwood bond in the fall. It will also extend an offer to attend local select board meetings to give a presentation on the options being considered, as well as offer to present on the bond to local civic groups. Avenues of communication regarding events, presentations, and other opportunities to learn and provide feedback about the bond will include mailed flyers, public media, and media including The Valley Reporter, Times Argus, Waterbury Roundabout, as well as Front Porch Forum.
The superintendent and co-principals will present to the Harwood Union High School faculty and student groups on the process and timeline. There will also be a brief presentation to high school parents at Back-to-School Night previewing public presentations and announcing the schedule for community participation and input.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
A series of public meetings will be held at Harwood beginning in November. The draft schedule includes seven public meetings on the bond by April 2024. The school board will review feedback then vote on its final recommendation for the bond in June 2024. The bond leadership team will work with architects to finalize details of the bond over the summer and begin a bond publicity campaign in the fall. There will be another informational meeting prior to the vote in November 2024. The leadership team also plans to host and be present at other community events to listen to feedback and educate community members on the bond plan.
“The superintendent will develop and present to the school board a comprehensive blueprint leading to a new Harwood Union High School bond. The plan shall include a review of the different categories from the previous bond, recommended modifications, and a plan to solicit input from the community prior to finalization,” Leichliter wrote.
‘VERY TRANSPARENT’
“I want to be very transparent with the process from the very beginning,” Leichliter said at the May 10 meeting. “While I think there were many reasons the last bond failed, the one that I hear over and over again is a merger. I think that’s something I want to be very open about and discuss and make sure that when we move forward in this process that we can move forward in a way that the community feels comfortable that we’ve done this in a respectful manner and also in a way that we come up with a plan that our community can build consensus around when we go out for a vote so we can be fairly certain that it’s going to be successful.”
Separate from the school repairs/renovations that will likely be included in the bond, the HUUSD Board recently voted to construct a new commercial kitchen at Waitsfield Elementary School. That work is underway and scheduled for completion by August 2023. In previous discussions, the board mentioned swapping the food preparation and cooking that currently happens at Fayston for both Fayston and Waitsfield Elementary schools and doing that preparation at Waitsfield instead. The board voted at its May 10 meeting to invite Paul Kramer and Erika Dolan, co-directors of HUUSD food services, to speak about the current staffing and whether there is staff available to sustain two working kitchens. The board will invite the co-directors to speak at its June 14 meeting.
