Questions & answers as $59.5 million school bond decision nears
October 16, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti
A 10-min. video outlines the renovation and construction projects that would be done at Harwood Union High School and Crossett Brook Middle School if voters approve a $59.5 million bond on Nov. 2. Screenshot
Voting is already underway in the special election for the Harwood Unified Union School District’s $59.5 million construction bond and school district leaders are busy conducting information sessions for the public to get informed before casting ballots.
So far, several question-and-answer sessions have been held and recorded with another scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, hosted by Mad River TV and the Valley Reporter on TV and over Zoom. School Board Chair Torrey Smith and Vice Chair Tim Jones will take questions from viewers and reporters from the Valley Reporter and Waterbury Roundabout.
In addition, a final presentation and opportunity for public comment and questions will happen on Wednesday, Oct. 27, for the first portion of the school board’s regular hybrid meeting starting at 6 p.m. The public hearing on the bond will be held in person in the library at Harwood Union High School with online access over Zoom and on YouTube for the public to watch and participate. Mad River TV will also cover. Those attending in person will be required to wear a mask.
Previous Q&A sessions have attracted sparse attendance live so far but school officials hope community members watch the recordings online on the district’s YouTube channel. Smith and Jones also were interviewed on WDEV radio’s Vermont Viewpoint program on Sept. 27 and a recording of that conversation with host Ric Cengeri is online to listen to starting at the 44:32 mark of the program.
The bond and the work it would fund has been in the works for several years as school leaders wrestled with how to approach tackling needed renovations and upgrades to Harwood Union High School which was built in 1965.
A key part of the plan is to merge all of the district’s seventh- and eighth-graders at Crossett Brook Middle School once a $6 million addition is made to the middle school in Duxbury. That would accommodate the approximate 90 or so students that otherwise would attend Harwood Middle School. The middle school addition would be one of the first parts of the construction effort with plans to combine classes in the 2023-24 school year.
The majority of the bond -- $53.5 million -- would be put toward work at the high school on a long list of upgrades from replacing heating and ventilation systems, the roof, windows and flooring, to adding a second gymnasium and rebuilding the campus running track.
Details on the various elements of the project, background and more are posted on the HUUSD.org website in a section labeled Bond Plan.
The school district had the construction management contractor ReArch which is one of the consultants working on the project proposal produce a 10-minute video describing the project.
It’s posted on the Bond Plan web page and it features students, present and past school board members, staff and parents discussing the project.
Smith said the video turned out longer than expected and cost $20,000 to make, but that cost was trimmed back from an initial $34,000 estimate. The video is part of the board’s community outreach plan adopted in late August to explain the bond details to voters.
The board looked at similar public information efforts in Winooski and Burlington ahead of construction bonds to renovate school facilities in those communities. Winooski’s construction effort moved forward but Burlington’s was halted in 2020 when contamination from hazardous polychlorobiphenyls -- also known as PCBs -- was discovered to an extent that made the building no longer usable. The city relocated its high school to the former Macy’s downtown department store and it is now in the process of determining a site for a future permanent high school which is expected to take several years.
The Harwood Union School Board discussed testing for PCBs at its meeting this past week. The high school facility is from the era when building materials containing PCBs were used and testing will be needed before any renovations commence. Findings from such testing could add significant costs to the building project and plans for testing have not yet been determined.
Finally, ballots are now available for early voting from town clerks’ offices in each of the district’s six communities. Voters may call or email their town clerk for a ballot to be mailed to them, or they may vote in person at their town offices during regular hours before Nov. 2. Anyone not registered to vote may do so up until the day of the election.
On Nov. 2, in-person voting will be held in each town from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. All but Waitsfield will hold voting at municipal offices; Waitsfield Elementary School will be used for voting there.
Anyone wishing to submit a question for Monday’s Q&A session on Mad River TV may email it to waterburyroundabout@gmail.com with “school bond question” in the subject line.