Help Wanted: 8 Harwood school board seats on the March ballot
January 10, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti
The upcoming Town Meeting Day election will be important for the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board this year as eight of the board’s 14 seats will be on ballots across five of the district’s six communities.
All four of Waterbury’s seats on the board will be up for election along with one each in Duxbury, Fayston, Waitsfield and Warren. Neither terms of Moretown’s two members are expired this year.
As the town with the largest population in the Harwood district, Waterbury has twice as many representatives on the school board as the other communities. Only two of the current Waterbury members – Corey Hackett and Dan Roscioli – say they plan to run for election.
Board member Victoria Taravella is ending her first three-year term and she has told Waterbury Roundabout that she does not plan to run for re-election. An active member with the Waterbury Rotary Club where she has served as president, Taravella said she is considering a run for a Waterbury Select Board seat.
Likewise Waterbury representative Elizabeth Brown has also said she will not run for election in March. Brown last summer ran in the Democratic primary in Waterbury’s district for the state House of Representatives. She came up short and afterward worked on the campaign for Republican John Rodgers who was elected lieutenant governor. She now is working as Rodgers’ chief of staff in Montpelier which she said likely would not allow her time to serve on the school board.
Brown said she hopes others in the community will come forward to run in March to fill Waterbury’s school board seats. “It has been a fantastic opportunity to learn more about our schools, school district and education system.,” she said of her eight months on the board. “Our schools need diverse perspectives now more than ever.”
Brown, Hackett and Roscioli all were appointed to their current positions in April 2024. Last Town Meeting Day, two openings for full terms were on the ballot after former members Kelley Hackett and Marlena Tucker-Fishman ended their time on the board. No candidates stepped forward to run, however. Shortly after the March election, board member Jake Pitman also resigned from the board having accepted a coaching position at Harwood Union High School. School district staff members cannot serve on the school board.
School board terms are three years. As is prescribed in state law, appointments to fill vacancies are made last just until the next local election regardless of how much time remains to be served.
Two of the seats filled last April were full terms that now have two years remaining; Pitman’s former seat now has one year left to serve. (At the time of the appointment in April, the school board did not specify which seat each of the appointees was allocated since all of them were to serve just until March 2025.)
Roscioli said he plans to run for the term with one year remaining; Hackett is running for one of the two two-year openings. No one so far has expressed interest in the full three-year term.
Duxbury, Fayston need candidates
For the four board seats representing the other communities, two incumbents have announced they are running.
Board Chair Ashley Woods of Warren said she is seeking a second term as is Bobby Rood from Waitsfield. Neither Duxbury representative Life LeGeros nor Fayston board member Danielle Dukette will seek re-election. LeGeros has served since May 2022 and Dukette since March 2023.
LeGeros said in the time he’s served, he’s “seen the board evolve in a very positive direction” and that he considers it a strong group. “I have enjoyed serving with a group of community members who put the best interests of our students and schools at the forefront. It is a healthy culture where we are able to learn together, productively disagree, and engage in evidence-based and values-driven decision-making,” he said in an announcement to the community. He also offered for anyone interested in running to contact him to discuss the opportunity.
Filing deadline approaches
Jan. 27 is the deadline for local candidates to file forms to run for office and have their names on the March 4 ballot. Candidates must collect signatures on a nominating petition to present to their town clerk as part of the filing process. Candidates need to gather either 30 signatures of registered voters in their municipality or a number equal to 1% of the voter checklist, whichever is smaller. In Waterbury, 30 signatures are required.
Candidates may get petitions from their town clerk or on the Secretary of State’s website. More information is online here.
After the Jan. 27 filing deadline, interested individuals still may come forward to run as write-in candidates which requires communicating with voters in their communities. Waterbury Roundabout welcomes and will publish letters of interest from all candidates for local office.