One-question Election Day: Voters to decide $59.5 million school bond on Tuesday

By Lisa Scagliotti | Oct. 30, 2021

A school bus makes its way down the Crossett Brook Middle School driveway this week with the maple trees at their peak fall color. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

In its last public session before Tuesday’s vote on a $59.5 million school construction bond, the Harwood Unified Union School Board heard from just three people with questions. 

The first portion of its meeting on Wednesday was devoted to a presentation explaining the work the bond would pay for to renovate Harwood Union High School and add onto Crossett Brook Middle School. Board Chair Torrey Smith has laid out the details with slides several times in the past month in online forums that have been recorded and are available to watch on the school district’s YouTube page; one recorded on Oct. 18 is available on Mad River TV. 

The bond would pay for major renovations and updates to Harwood Union High School to address systems and features that have reached the end of their useful life or no longer comply with building standards in the facility built in 1965. The school is in need of a new roof, new heating and ventilation systems, windows, flooring, etc. Other elements are aimed at creating efficiencies both in terms of energy and space considerations. Lighting and insulation would be addressed as well as consolidating functions now in spaces off site such as the district’s central offices which would be moved to the Harwood campus. Another category of work addresses building configurations to align with current educational practices and needs that have evolved since the school was built.

The package includes $5.7 million to build a second gymnasium and another $2.88 million to rebuild the running track located across the street from the school. In order to combine all seventh- and eighth-grade classes, $6 million of the bond would be used to add a new wing to Crossett Brook Middle School. 

Questions on Wednesday touched on the gym proposal and whether new space proposed for Crossett Brook could accommodate more students should the district decide to further consolidate more classes there. Smith acknowledged that plans as recent as last year considered moving fifth- and sixth-graders from Moretown to Crossett Brook but that is not being considered now. She noted that the middle school’s current capacity could accommodate that move without an addition but “that’s not on the table.”  

Another questioner asked about capacity in existing facilities and whether an addition to Crossett Brook is necessary to combine seventh and eighth grades. Smith explained that the bulk of the bond would address badly needed renovations to the high school and merging the middle schools is key to the high school project. “Harwood is falling apart right now,” she said.  

A final inquiry came regarding whether other funding options could be considered for the facilities the community would use such as the track and the gym. Smith agreed that community fundraising or other sources could be tapped to help offset taxpayer dollars and reduce the amount the district would ultimately borrow.

A key part of the project presentation offers examples of how the bond would impact property taxes: for a property valued at $250,000, the tax impact is estimated at $350 a year; a $350,000 home would see an increase of about $500 per year; a $500,000 property would have an increase of approximately $700 per year. 

Smith points out that an estimated two-thirds of the district’s taxpayers have their tax payments adjusted based on their income. For those taxpayers, dollar values for the increases they would see would vary although overall, it would be an estimated 8% increase to their current tax bill. 

Tax increases associated with the bond also would not go into effect for two years. 

More information compiled by the school district on the project history and details is online on the district’s website under the heading Bond Plan. 

The polls in each of the district’s six communities will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for voting on the $59,545,312 bond proposal. All but Waitsfield will be town office locations; Waitsfield Elementary School is the polling place there. 

Voters may also cast early ballots in person at their town clerk’s office during regular business hours on Monday. Anyone not registered to vote may also do so on election day and cast a ballot as Vermont election law allows for same-day registration. 

The school item is the only question on the Nov. 2 ballot given that 2021 is an off year for statewide and national elections. The day, however, is a day off for Harwood Union schools. 

The $59.5 million proposed construction bond calls for adding a new wing onto Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury to combine all of the Harwood Unified Union School District's seventh- and eighth-grade classes there. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti