School Board gets a financial caution, allows the pride flag at Harwood for June, and more
May 28, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti It is still too early to tell for sure, but the annual surpluses that the Harwood Unified Union School District has enjoyed and put towards facility maintenance may be coming to an end this year.
District Director of Finance Lisa Estler told the Harwood School Board this week that the “possible worst-case scenario” for the June 30 end of the current budget year would mean a shortfall. Her report prepared for the meeting estimates that at less than 1% of the budget or just under $370,000 “using conservative estimates.” A variety of factors are in play, Estler said, including state aid for transportation costs and special education reimbursements from the state.
The budget relies on a projected $907,000 in state revenue for special education, she noted, but it’s unclear if the district will receive that much. The state reimburses districts 95% of their per-student costs above $60,000, Estler said. While the district this year has more students receiving special education services, fewer than expected are at that threshold for state payments, she explained.
Ultimately, Estler said she believes the final figures will be closer to breaking even, but she wanted to pass along to the board the most conservative take with several weeks still left in the fiscal year. And in the meantime, the administration is looking to take any possible steps in the final weeks that could make a difference in the bottom line. “We are working to reduce expenditures where we can to avoid ending the year in a deficit,” Estler added.
Estler said she will continue to update the board on the financial projections as the school year’s final weeks wind down. “We won’t have a clearer position until closer to the first week of July,” she said.
In recent years, the district typically has ended the budget year with a fund balance, or a surplus. The school board each March asks voters to approve putting some or all of the surplus funds into the Maintenance Reserve Fund used to pay for building improvements and repairs. Prior to the pandemic, that amount was often $1 million or more.
This year, voters in March approved adding $696,931 left over from fiscal year 2022 into the reserve. The prior two years, 2022 and 2021 for example, saw $1.5 million and $1 million added into the reserve respectively.
The fund currently has about $4.5 million in it with a three-year list of proposed projects totaling over $10 million. A longer-term list shared in March puts building needs in the range of $25-30 million.
Superintendent Mike Leichliter and the board have discussed the need to plan for a school construction bond, likely for fall 2024. At the May 10 meeting, the group discussed designing a process to include community input, assess priorities, and plan for a vote. That discussion will continue at the June 13 meeting with a focus on considering whether or not to plan for Harwood to continue to have a grade 7-8 middle school.
Plans for major school construction have been on hold since voters in the fall of 2021 rejected a nearly $60 million bond that mainly looked to renovate and improve Harwood Union High School. It also would have expanded Crossett Brook Middle School to consolidate Harwood’s grade 7-8 classes there.
Pride flag to fly at Harwood in June
A pride flag flew at Harwood Union Middle/High School for several days in June 2022. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
With a unanimous vote, the school board approved a request to fly the LGBTQIA+ community pride flag for the month of June in observance of National Pride Month at Harwood Union High School.
The school’s student Gender and Sexuality Alliance group made the request under a district flag policy adopted last year to manage requests to fly flags other than the U.S. or Vermont state flags. The group included a letter of support from the co-principals and shared the results of a student poll that received 296 responses with 78% in support of flying the flag.
“We have been grateful for the student-led work that has occurred this year to consider how we can create a school community where those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA community feel belonging,” Principals Laurie Greenberg and Megan McDonough wrote. “This work has included consideration of how to ensure equity of access to bathrooms and accurate use of pronouns when a substitute is teaching. Flying the pride flag at Harwood would reflect the continued work of our community to create space where all feel respected.”
The student group made a similar request last year but it came as the policy was being finalized late in the school year and a small pride flag was approved to fly for just the final three days of classes in June.
This year, the group worked on its request with advisor Tedin Lange, a Harwood English teacher, and the superintendent, who receives the requests to pass on to the board for approval. Board members commended the application which was only the second request to date under the district’s new policy. The group also has purchased a new flag that is appropriate for a flagpole with multiple inclusive symbols to encompass the LGBTQIA+ community.
“The idea of students bringing this forward is so important,” said board member Life LeGeros of Duxbury. He expressed some concern, however, that displaying a pride flag may not be met with acceptance from everyone.
In recent weeks, a number of protests have emerged around the U.S. in connection with upcoming Pride Month observances, particularly directed toward various companies that have adapted their products with pride messaging or are offering pride-themed merchandise. In addition, multiple state legislatures around the country have taken up measures focusing on limiting gay and trans rights including restricting speech in schools regarding gender and identity to banning gender-affirming health care.
By contrast in Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott recently signed into law legislation passed this session that protects doctors performing and patients receiving gender-affirming health care in the state.
“The issue this flag represents is a huge touchpoint right now in our country,” LeGeros said. “I would like to state as a board member, I would love for the board to be able to affirm that we really actively support these students and what this represents in terms of diversity, and affirming these identities as being absolutely true and beautiful, and that we stand up for this in our community. And I would hope that if there was some pushback, that we have some plans in place for how to deal with it and it doesn't fall back to the sponsor (who is an amazing educator) or the students – that we’ve got their backs.”
The vote on the flag request was 12-0. Board Chair Kristen Rodgers typically does not vote; Waterbury member Marlena Tucker-Fishman was absent.
Harwood Union High School seniors Maisie Franke and Jeswin Antony (center) are nearing the end of their service as student members of the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board. With them are Vice Chair Kelley Hackett of Waterbury (left) and Chair Kristen Rodgers of Moretown (right). Photo by Mike Leichliter
Student members moving on
The board heard from its high school student members on a number of topics including an update on Harwood Spirit Week that was ongoing on Wednesday, a recap from the National Honor Society Fun Day with 43 local elementary school-aged children, and a look ahead to several initiatives at the high school including a student survey about proficiency-based learning before the end of the school year.
Board members and administrators at the table thanked the two Harwood senior representatives, Jewsin Antony and Maisie Franke, for their two years of service on the board. The pair will graduate June 10. “We have learned a tremendous amount of insight into the student life at Harwood from the two of you,” board Vice Chair Kelley Hackett said. “We have appreciated that humbleness to share the challenges, the celebrations and the hopes from the student perspective.”
Rodgers added that the work the two did to create a process to recruit new students paves the way for student leadership in the future.
Leichliter thanked the students for welcoming him when he joined the district at the start of this school year. “Maisie, the idea of student voice and the importance of student voice at Harwood was something that you really taught me and helped me learn,” Leichliter said. “Jeswin, you practiced good democracy in action by giving the superintendent very strong and specific and directed questions – from the basketball court to student days – and you pressed me on that in a very respectful way, which I appreciate.”
Leichliter called the student participation a good model for students and adults to follow. He wished the seniors well next year at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the University of Vermont – the schools Antony and Franke respectively have chosen to attend.
Antony and Franke explained their upcoming process for recruiting new rising juniors to join Naomi Myers and Dylan Mauro who will be seniors next year. The board has four high school representative seats.
Harwood Union High School students conduct a Harkness discussion as a demonstration at the May 24 HUUSD School Board meeting. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Two student presentations
About an hour of the meeting was filled by two other student group presentations.
The first was a Harkness facilitated discussion among nine students. Introduced by Harwood English Department head Kate Stauss, the group demonstrated the method of inquiry and dialogue that has become an award-winning trademark part of the school’s culture and curriculum. It involves asking questions, active listening, and a respectful exchange of ideas. The group chose to discuss the school’s mission statement and how it relates to daily life at Harwood. Afterward, board members asked the students questions about how the Harkness method works in both the specific elective leadership class that they have taken and throughout other classes in school.
Student board member Antony who has participated in many such exchanges asked how by using the Harkness method they can best engage people reluctant to participate in a discussion. “A really big part of Harkness in general is asking questions,” replied sophomore Finn Kramer. “It is a really good way to include others into the conversation – it’s a really good skill to have.”
The student slide presentation is visible on the school board meeting video recording. Screenshot
The second presentation was by members of the Harwood Girls Varsity Basketball team and their Coach Tommy Young. The group recently traveled to Serbia and Croatia on a cultural exchange organized with Project Harmony. They met peers in both countries and spent time playing basketball and getting to know their counterparts. Each team member created a slide for a slideshow with photos and text where they shared their favorite highlights of the experience.
Their discussion with the board covered many details from travel and logistics to the athletics, food, and overall social experiences they had in the weeklong trip over April break. Downtime included music and learning some traditional dances and even a chance to pick up trash along streets much like Green Up in Vermont. They said they were pleasantly surprised to find the teenagers they met spoke fluent English which made it easy to connect.
Senior Mia Lapointe called the experience “life-changing,” saying she was grateful for the opportunity. “I still talk with these girls,” she said. “We became friends so quickly.”
Moretown Elementary principal
Katelyn Liptak will be Moretown Elementary School’s new principal starting July 1. Courtesy photo
The board unanimously approved hiring Katelyn Liptak as principal for Moretown Elementary School starting July 1. Liptak, a Moretown resident and Harwood alumna, will succeed Mandy Couturier who will move to a district-wide special education administrative position.
A recent meet-and-greet event held at the school resulted in unanimous attendee survey responses in favor of the hiring choice, Leichliter said. Liptak was also a finalist for a co-principal position at Crossett Brook Middle School. “She exudes energy and positivity,” said Hackett who served on that hiring committee.
Board member Jake Pitman of Waterbury, who works as a track coach at the high school, added some Harwood trivia to the discussion: “Kate Liptak is one of the best high-jumpers in the history of Harwood track and field.”
Other business
The board took action on a number of other items at the May 24 meeting:
The board approved a number of new hires and several reassignments of current staffers for the 2023-24 school year. This is in addition to another list of new hires that the board approved at its May 10 meeting for next year as well.
The board approved upcoming class field trips: Warren students for a day trip to Fort Ticonderoga and Waitsfield students for an overnight trip to the Common Ground Center in Starksboro. It also approved trips in the 2023-24 school year for Harwood Union High School students to travel to Rwanda and Denmark. Details of the trips are in request forms linked to the May 24 meeting agenda.
The school board moved its one regular meeting left this school year from June 14 to Tuesday, June 13, due to a conflict with 8th-grade graduation at Crossett Brook Middle School. On June 28, the board will hold its annual retreat meeting at the Mad River Barn from 5 to 9 p.m. That meeting is open to the public and will be recorded. The board takes a summer recess, resuming regular meetings in late August as the new school year commences.
Watch recordings of school board meetings on the district’s YouTube channel or on Mad River TV. Find meeting agendas, minutes, and materials online at huusd.org/huusd-board.