By Doug Reed
The original architect for Harwood Union was Roland Whittier, a senior partner in the firm of Sargent Webster Crenshaw and Foley. I was a recent graduate working in their drafting room. When we completed one of their many (almost identical) schools, a partner would come back and (sometimes on my desk) stamp the documents for Code Submission and Approval. The completed set then went out to bid, a contractor was chosen, construction commenced and two plus years later the facility was ready for occupancy.
However, because most all Building Code Books are revised yearly (and adopted by different states intermittently), the completed Harwood facility was no longer gauranteed to “meet code.” And yes, now 50 years of code changes later, our hard working HUUSD Board has been mistakenly informed that they must meet new “Standards and Requirements”. This is not true!
Only new construction (or major renovations) must meet new building codes. The Vermont Department of Labor and Industry has not and will not close existing schools. We should be proud that our Harwood is a very safe, (primarily) one-story building, surrounded with wonderful on-grade fire egress. Consequently, all new code changes should be viewed as well-meaning suggestions, subject to local budgetary constraints.
In 2002, I was asked to design Moretown Elementary School and parking lot for a projected student population of 220. Declining enrollment has almost halved that demand, but the current parking lot use has more than doubled. So, in this time of financial difficulties, can we now ask: how much staff is needed to meet actual state mandates, not toothless administrative threats?
In conclusion, townspeople can (rightfully) complain about abstruse state funding formulas, but I don’t foresee any light at the end of that tunnel. I believe our only option is to have our board cut bond costs by reviewing so-called mandated architectural and educational “Standards and Requirements.”
And (yes, I know I’m not supposed to bring this up), as a past school board member who was also routed by the undefeated teachers union, could we finally address the question I first asked in 2000: Have our teachers received enough raises so they are now fairly paid, in relation to the taxpayers? My proposed tax bill would exceed the initial cost of my land.
Doug Reed lives in Moretown.
