Harwood preps for 3rd budget vote as finance committee starts to look ahead
May 19, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiMay 20: This post was updated with information about an online petition calling for the Harwood school board to rethink the elementary World Language program cut to the school budget.
Early voting is open and the public informational meeting ahead of the third vote for Harwood’s 2024-25 school budget will be held Monday evening, May 20, both in person and streaming online.
Ballots are available at the town clerks’ offices in all six communities across the district so voters who would like to cast a ballot before the May 30 special election can do so at their town office or by requesting a ballot by mail.
Monday’s informational meeting will start at 6 p.m. and include a presentation by school district officials and time for questions from the public. The meeting will be held in the library at Harwood Union High School and carried online on the district’s YouTube channel (view only) and via Zoom where people may comment and ask questions. Details are on the May 30 election warning here.
The school district has compiled information on its website HUUSD.org about the budget including a document of Frequently Asked Questions.
After voters rejected the first two school budget proposals on Town Meeting Day in March and in a special vote on April 30, the Harwood Unified Union School Board has put forward a budget proposal of $47,892,873 million. That’s down from the initial $50.8 million budget; the second proposal was just under $48.9 million. Overall, the latest budget represents an increase of 5.4% in spending over the 2023-24 school budget.
The first budget in March failed with 64% voting no. In April, the vote was closer with just 166 votes separating the no and yes votes, 1,731 to 1,565.
The new proposal includes staffing cuts across the school district that trim 27.5 full-time equivalent positions. In the first two budget versions, staffing cuts were mainly achieved by resignations and retirements. The most recent iteration now calls for layoffs among the newest list of 11 positions being cut including four elementary world language teachers who teach foreign languages to grades K-6 across the district. Some other staffers on list of cuts may be able to transfer to other open positions, administrators have said.
The latest budget proposal relies on one-time spending cuts to expenditures such as routine maintenance, technology purchases, supplies, transportation, and staff conferences and training. Both the current and April proposals also eliminated the line item that would have added $1 million into the district’s Maintenance Reserve Fund on top of the transfer of $535,000 from the 2023 budget that voters approved in March.
The current school budget year ends June 30 and a new budget will be needed starting on July 1. Should voters not approve a budget by that time, the school district’s borrowing to start the new fiscal year will be based on a total of 87% of the 2023-24 school budget of $44.5 million.
Lower budget means lower tax increases
Since January, the process of building school budgets for next school year has involved proposals with double-digit anticipated school property taxes across Vermont and the Harwood district is no different. Approximately 30 budgets failed on their first votes in March and districts around the state are continuing to hone their proposals for subsequent re-votes aimed at getting budgets in place by July 1 when the new fiscal year begins.
Harwood’s latest budget proposal calls for the lowest range of tax increases so far: between 10% and 19%. That compares to the failed Town Meeting Day proposal that would have required increases estimated between 22% and 32%; the April budget relied on increases ranging from 13% to 22%.
The increases that taxpayers can expect now range from a low of 10.5% for Duxbury to 19.3% for Warren; Waterbury would see a 14% increase under the budget on the ballot for May 30. These figures are based on current state data that likely will not be finalized before the vote.
Translated to dollars for every $100,000 of assessed property value, the increases would add $199 to Duxbury tax bills, $267 for Waterbury properties, and $378 for those in Warren. (Example: A property valued at $300,000 in each of those communities would see a tax increase of $597 in Duxbury, $801 in Waterbury, and $1,134 in Warren.)
Finance Director Lisa Estler explained that the district begins each fiscal year borrowing funds in anticipation of receiving tax revenue as property taxes are collected in the communities in the summer and fall.
However, the difference in potentially relying on 87% of the former year’s budget would mean that the district would need to move ahead with a guaranteed budget of only $39.5 million rather than the nearly $48 million on the ballot. It would need to cut back on the number of contracts to teachers and staff and other expenditures, Estler said, amounting to approximately $8 million in additional cuts.
One question in the district’s budget document of Frequently Asked Questions asks, “If this next budget doesn’t pass, what would be the next round of reductions?” The answer contains a short list of possible cuts: Eliminating athletics programs and co-curricular activities such as theater productions and student clubs; also cuts to programs and their associated positions similar to elementary World Language cut, which are not state requirements.
Finance Committee holds first meeting
Against the backdrop of the impending third budget vote, the Harwood School Board’s newly formed Finance Committee met for the first time on Wednesday, May 15.
The group consists of members from five of the district’s six towns (all but Duxbury). Fayston board member Mike Bishop volunteered to serve as chair.
The school board formed the committee to look for ways the district can restructure its spending in the years ahead with a goal of bringing down its per-pupil spending which now works out to $15,250, which is higher than the state average of $13,396.
The board has directed the committee to explore all avenues including staffing, programs, and facilities.
Committee members shared their expectations of the work ahead.
“I want to pass a budget for this year. That’s the primary goal,” said Waitsfield member Bobbi Rood. Next, she said, “we need to demonstrate that we are committed to looking at longer-term solutions.” Rood noted that the board has heard many ideas from community members such as closing a school, increasing class sizes and reducing staff – all of which merit consideration.
Bishop agreed saying that he would like to see the committee “think outside the box” and entertain all suggestions, “even if it sounds radical.” He offered examples such as corporate sponsorships for athletics, soliciting parent volunteers to assist with food service, or cutting transportation for athletics.
Warren member Jonathan Young emphasized that a starting point should be to look at a detailed budget breakdown that shows required and not-required programming alongside the costs and staffing for each.
Estler was the district staff member at the meeting. She took notes on requests for data committee members made and she offered to put together detailed budget breakdowns per school. The ultimate goal, she said, “is to be able to do a deep dive to see where we are able to achieve cost savings.”
Although the group is charged with looking at the long-term financial picture that would commence with the budget process in the fall for the 2025-26 school year, last week’s discussion touched on feedback the School Board has received regarding proposed spending cuts contained in the latest 2024-25 budget that’s on the May 30 ballot, in particular the elimination of the elementary World Language program.
“The backlash was immediate,” Young said.
Members said they have received many messages from the public regarding that cut which trims $357,000, according to Estler’s latest budget breakdown. The group briefly discussed the possibility of finding alternative cuts should the full board want to reconsider the language program decision.
Estler noted that the board is committed to the budget amount on the ballot, not specific line items in the budget. Still, finding alternative cuts that total $357,000 would mean significant impacts to different programs such as extracurricular activities, athletics, theater and art, she noted. “Everything is going to impact students,” she said.
Rood suggested that there could be a way to include some language studies as an extracurricular program going forward.
Since the committee met last week, an online petition has been created to gather support in asking the School Board to rethink the language program cuts. Started on Sunday, May 19, the petition on the website Change.org had 124 signatures by Monday evening.
Created by Brookside Primary School French teacher Rebecca Chartrand, the request for support says that learning languages earlier than seventh grade is best. Cutting the program, the petition says, will mean that students will miss out on exposure to other cultures and places around the world as well as opportunities to integrate language studies with subjects such as music, art and social studies. In a letter to Waterbury Roundabout last week, Chartrand argues for supporting the school budget on the May 30 ballot with a hope that board members will swap the language program cut for something else.
Two big areas of focus Finance Committee members discussed were examining school facilities with an eye toward consolidation. Some buildings may be assets and others may be liabilities due to their age and condition, Young said, pointing to Brookside Primary School in Waterbury, which was last renovated in 2007. “That building has massive value to a residential developer,” he said.
Bishop offered another example of flooding concerns at Moretown Elementary after it flooded in December.
The group also discussed the district’s administration structure given that multiple schools currently use a co-principal model. Contractual obligations kept district leaders from recommending any changes with these positions for the 2024-25 budget. Young maintained that there is “huge room to remove some of those positions” in the future.
The group also briefly discussed the potential to move the district’s central offices from leased space in Waitsfield to district-owned space near Harwood Union High School.
At the school board’s regular meeting this Wednesday, May 22, the committee will report back to the full school board on its first discussions.
See a recording of the Finance Committee meeting as well as all School Board meetings on the district’s YouTube channel.