As The Valley Reporter goes to press on March 19, The Harwood Unified Union School District board is hearing another presentation from architects TruexCullins on possible reconfiguration scenarios for the district, and further narrow options from six or seven to three.
The board has previously narrowed the scope of the Truex work from 13 options to six plus a seventh option which includes maintaining the status quo and seeking to pass a bond to upgrade/maintain the district’s seven campuses.
The potential options include Option 0, the status quo, which does not meet the criteria identified by educators and administrators when surveyed by Truex. Those goals – 45-minute maximum bus rides for elementary school students and 60-minute maximum bus rides for middle and high school students. Truex reported that those surveyed would like a centralized preschool location in The Valley and Waterbury as well as two classes per grade in elementary schools.
The other options include Option B which creates two Valley schools in Waitsfield and Warren and closes Fayston and Moretown Elementary Schools. That option maintains one district high school and two district middle schools. That option puts preschool for all Valley students at Waitsfield Elementary School.
Option D1 also closes two Valley elementary schools, Moretown and Fayston and it puts preschool students at Waitsfield. This option puts Waterbury/Duxbury preschoolers at Crossett Brook and creates two sixth- through eighth-grade middle schools, one at Harwood and one at Crossett Brook.
Option G closes Brookside Primary and Crossett Brook becomes preschool through sixth grade for Waterbury and Duxbury. Harwood Union becomes the district’s sole middle and high school and closes the Fayston and Moretown schools, turning Warren and Waitsfield schools into preschool through sixth-grade facilities.
Option G1 closes Brookside Primary School and converts Crossett Brook into a preschool through sixth-grade campus. It closes three Valley elementary schools, Fayston, Moretown and Warren, creating a three-town preschool and K-6 campus at Waitsfield. Under this scenario, Harwood Union becomes the sole high school and middle school in the district.
Option K creates two preschool through fifth-grade Valley campuses, in Warren and Waitsfield, closing Moretown and Fayston. Plans call for 75% of Fayston students to go to Waitsfield as well as 67% to go to Waitsfield. Twenty-five percent of Fayston students might attend Warren while 33% of Moretown students might attend Brookside Primary. That option keeps Brookside as a preschool through fourth-grade building and Crossett Brook as a fifth- through eighth-grade middle school. Harwood continues as a middle and high school.
K2 is the final option under consideration. That option closes Fayston and Moretown schools, sending 100% of Fayston students to Warren and 67% of Moretown students to Waitsfield. Waitsfield would also become The Valley’s preschool. Thirty-three percent of Moretown students would attend Brookside which would serve as the Waterbury -Duxbury preschool and house students up to fourth grade. Crossett Brook becomes remains a fifth- through eighth-grade campus and Harwood hosts seventh- and eighth-grade middle schoolers as well as all high school students in the district.
Truex has provided an analysis of multiple considerations for each of these options, including meeting state recommendations for square footage per school, future upgrades/repairs by campus, alignment with the stated goals articulated by administrators/educators, current and future costs as well as information about staffing costs under each scenario. The analysis also breaks down what remodeling and upgrades (and those costs) will be needed to move students from one campus to another.
School board and district administration are the ones narrowing these options and will ultimately bring the final three to the public and teachers/building administrators for more input.
Closing any district schools is not quick and requires a specific process laid out in the Act 46 Articles of Agreement which district voters passed in 2016, merging local school districts into one. (See My View from HUUSD leadership on Page 5.)
