Waiver clears the way for new school board member
October 30, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
HUHS alumnus and coach Jake Pitman is Waterbury’s newest member on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board. Courtesy photo
A Waterbury seat on the HUUSD School Board has a new member as of last week when the board appointed Jacob Pitman to serve until Town Meeting Day in March.
The appointment passed muster with a waiver from the Vermont Secretary of Education given that Pitman works part-time for the district in the fall and spring as a coach.
A 2013 Harwood Union High School graduate, Pitman was the only applicant for the school board vacancy that came open in September when Iana Gabriella Fraser resigned. Fraser, who was appointed to the seat in May, stepped down when her plans to move permanently to Waterbury changed. The position requires that members live in the community the seat represents. After March Town Meeting in 2023, this board seat has one full year left. Since the term started in March 2021, Michael Frank, Scott Culver, Jacqueline Kelleher and Fraser all have served in that position.
Pitman, who grew up in Waterbury and attended local schools, expressed interest in serving on the board last spring but applied too late when Fraser was appointed. As part of the process to fill a vacancy, he went before the Waterbury Select Board at its Oct. 17 meeting where the board voted 3-1 to recommend him for the temporary position. The school board allows for the local select board to weigh in on candidates for appointments in between elections, with the school board filling the opening.
In his application letter and in-person appearances before the Waterbury Select Board and the School Board, Pitman explained why he was drawn to serve in this role. After graduating from SUNY Plattsburgh and living in Burlington for two years, he said he moved back to Waterbury in 2019. “I simply love this community, and knew this is where I wanted to be,” he said in his letter.
Barely 10 years since he attended Harwood, Pitman said his interest in school issues has grown. “I have a passion for the decisions that particularly affect our students. My vision as a member of the school board is to help us make decisions that genuinely benefit the student body. I feel a strong sense of empathy with the students at Harwood – I was one of them not so long ago. Their experience and success within our schools means so much to me,” he wrote in his application. “They deserve an enriching adolescence similar to the one I had while growing up in this community. I believe I can help us stay true to that vision specifically through my unique perspective as a relatively younger member of this board.”
Pitman also acknowledged a dilemma he faced: He works for the school district as an assistant coach for the high school cross country team in the fall and in the spring as head coach of the middle school track and field program. He said he wants to continue in his coaching roles if appointed to the school board and requested a waiver from the law that prohibits district employees from serving on the board.
He said it is his involvement with students that motivated him to apply for the spot. “My seasonal employment as an athletic coach at Harwood is a unique reason why I believe I can be a voice and liaison between the board and the students it represents,” he said, adding that he believes any potential conflicts outweigh the benefits he could bring.
Waivers in such situations may be granted by the state Secretary of Education. During the COVID-19 pandemic several school board members have received waivers to work as substitute teachers in the district, for example, given a severe shortage of substitutes. Harwood Superintendent Mike Leichliter requested a waiver and Vermont Education Secretary Dan French provided one.
(Scroll down to see French’s letter at the end of this story.)
Prior to the board’s vote on his appointment on Wednesday, Pitman said he would do his best to be a valuable member on the board for the time of his appointment and would be interested in running for the seat in March. He also stressed that he would recuse himself should any matter come before the board that posed a conflict of interest given his coaching role.
In the end, most of those weighing in on the matter were satisfied with the disclosure and the blessing from the state. One Select Board member, Chris Viens, voted against Pitman’s application. Moretown School Board Member Lisa Mason cast the one no vote despite complimenting Pitman on his rationale for wanting to serve. She said appointing an employee – even with a waiver – was not best practice. “To start blurring that line feels wrong to me,” she said.
Waterbury board member Kelley Hackett said seeing high turnover in this position has been frustrating. “Jake has passion,” she said, adding that it will be important to have a full board for budget season coming up and that Waterbury deserved to be fully represented. “It’s important to have all of our voices here,” she said.
In addition to Pitman and Hackett, who serves as vice chair and whose term ends in March, Waterbury’s other two other school board members are Marlena Tucker-Fishman whose term ends in 2024 and Victoria Taravella who was elected this year until 2025.
The March Town Meeting Day election will see eight of the school board’s 14 seats on the ballot through a combination of those whose elected terms expire at that time and those who have been appointed since Town Meeting Day 2022.
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