School board replaces ‘Thatcher Brook’ with ‘Brookside’ in busy meeting
June 26, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti
The Harwood Unified Union School Board has resumed in-person meetings at Harwood Union High School’s library. Future meetings will aim to have remote access for viewing and participation online. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
From Waterbury High School to Waterbury Elementary School to Thatcher Brook Primary School, the school at 47 Stowe Street will next be known as “Brookside Primary School.”
The Harwood Unified Union School District’s board made that decision at the board’s first regular meeting in person at the Harwood Union High School library where it has not met together since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the final meeting for this school year before the board’s summer recess and the group had a full agenda with multiple significant matters to address.
In addition to the school renaming, the board on Wednesday took action to:
Forego its plans to hire an investigator to review the firing of Harwood Union High School boys hockey coach Jacob Grout in February. See a separate story on that matter here.
Ratify the newly negotiated contract with the district’s teachers' union. More on that below.
Select the national recruitment firm to assist with the search for a new superintendent to succeed Superintendent Brigid Nease who plans to retire in 2022. More details below.
Set a special meeting for July 14 to fill an open Duxbury seat on the board. Those interested should apply as soon as possible. Read how here.
Approve its early-fall meeting schedule with three consecutive weeks – Aug. 24, Sept. 8 and 15 – to sort out details for construction plans and costs for Harwood and Crossett Brook schools that will go into a bond request to put before voters in early November. The specifics are needed by Sept. 15 to meet the schedule for holding a vote Nov. 2.
‘Brookside’ approved despite call for more discussion
Although the school board in February voted unanimously to pursue renaming Thatcher Brook Primary School, the vote on Wednesday to approve “Brookside” as the new name was 9-3. Much board discussion preceded the vote including whether to pause the name approval in order to have more community discussion.
Over the past several weeks, Waterbury board member Marlena Fishman, who helped design the criteria for the renaming process, has voiced concern over the pace of the process. She kicked off a discussion with an appeal to take more time. She said in running the weekly free meals distribution program at her family business, Zenbarn restaurant, she’s heard from many community members of all ages, including many alumni who don’t have children in school now, who were unaware of the school renaming in progress. Fishman said she’s read comments on news reports about the issue with people critical of the exercise, asking questions, and even pointing out how the new name choice still honors the brook, and indirectly Thatcher.
“What that tells me is that there hasn’t been enough engagement, enough awareness created for people to acknowledge the effect [the name] has on people and why we chose to change it, that it doesn’t represent the values of the … school district,” she said. “It felt rushed.”
The move to rename the school kicked off last fall after local residents researching Waterbury history learned about the background of Partridge Thatcher, the 18th-century Connecticut man for whom the Thatcher Brook in Waterbury is named; the brook flows parallel to Stowe Street where the school building sits. Thatcher was an early land grantee in Waterbury and he also was a slave owner. That history became the topic of community announcements and a forum led by the newly formed Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition, Harwood Union High School students and the Waterbury Public Library. The discussions led to a call to rename the school to reject its connection to oppression and find a name that would be welcoming and inclusive to all community members. In meeting with the school board, students emphasized the importance of the change given that Thatcher enslaved children and the school serves youngsters from preschool through grade 4.
The name “Brookside” was announced to the school board on June 9 following a process led by students and teachers at the school in May and early June. A call for name suggestions went out to school students and families in school communications with parents on May 14. The school district’s Community Bulletin dated May 17 was posted online May 18. Submissions using an online form were closed at 8 a.m. on May 19.
A straw poll presented three top choices selected from more than 200 suggestions, according to the Renaming Team. The other options were “Winding Brook” and “River of Light.” Voting was scheduled for June 1-5 online and was extended to June 9 after newspaper editors requested time to print the information and offer a paper form to the public. According to the committee, 615 votes were tallied -- all done online. The favorite, Brookside, received 60% or 371 votes; River of Light was a far-off second with 145 votes; Winding Brook received 99.
Fishman said she appreciates the efforts done so far, particularly the involvement of the primary school students, but the process seems incomplete. “I feel like it lacked the depth of what this naming process was about. It's not just changing the name,” she said. “Beyond that, it’s also part of the healing for the whole community.”
At the start of Wednesday’s meeting, Duxbury resident Life LeGeros called the school renaming process to date “a missed opportunity.” LeGeros has a student at Thatcher Brook and last year was involved with the research into the school name and the community discussions around it. “It went super-fast,” he said of the renaming, noting that the timeframes to suggest names and then vote on them “came and went really quickly.” LeGeros praised early board discussions of the issue for the time and depth they entailed. “I’m hoping this next phase centers on dialogue and learning,” he said.
Waterbury board member Michael Frank agreed, in part. “I was a little surprised by how quickly it went,” he said. “But the process we approved, it doesn’t end with this renaming.”
Frank and other board members pointed out that the renaming process calls for more outreach and education around the history of Partridge Thatcher and the school’s names over time -- steps that could come after the renaming.
Known as Waterbury Elementary School from the mid-1960s, the school was renamed after the brook in the late 1990s after Waterbury and Duxbury formed a joint school district and built a middle school. Names of brooks were chosen for each school -- Thatcher for its proximity to the Waterbury school, and Crossett for the brook running alongside the Duxbury school site. At the time, the focus was not on the people for whom those brooks are named.
Some board members emphasized keeping to the schedule it laid out. “The proper time to give feedback and say, ‘well, the timeline is too quick’ is when we’re reviewing the timeline, not when it’s almost to the last action on the timeline,” said Waitsfield board member Christine Sullivan. “That doesn’t respect the work that’s been done.”
Fishman emphasized that waiting on approving “Brookside” did not need to mean starting over. “My intent behind bringing this up is not to undo what has been done but to build on it,” she said. “I see these students have created a foundation.” Next steps could entail “digging a little deeper” and looking at how other communities in other places have changed school names with similar legacies, she explained. “What’s more important, the timeline or the healing, acknowledgment, learning process? The intent wasn’t to just have a new name for the opening of the school year, the intent was much deeper than that.”
Several acknowledged that the process may not have been ideal, and that the board should review it for lessons that might be helpful in future school-renaming exercises and even around how the board will communicate with the public on other issues. Waterbury board member Caitlin Hollister mentioned the upcoming superintendent search and the construction bond -- two topics where public communication will be key.
Fayston member Theresa Membrino agreed. “I think this is a great case study. It reflects how we as a board engage with our community and I think we have a lot of room to improve,” she said, noting that being remote for the past year due to the pandemic likely affected public communication somewhat. “Especially as we move ahead on the bond, we might want to just kind of brush up on our engagement strategy in general and how we think about it and how we think about the community.”
Acknowledging Fishman’s desire for a broader awareness around the issue, some board members suggested that could occur after the name change. Thatcher Brook Assistant Principal Sarah Schoolcraft who led the Renaming Team, said she followed the timeline the board gave her and much more lies ahead in rolling out the new name including collaborating with community groups like the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition and Harwood Union High School students, particularly when in-person gatherings are easier. “I feel like it’s not a done deal. It’s still going. The learning piece is what comes now,” Schoolcraft said, reminding the board of the broad community discussion that raised the topic of the school name last year. “I see that coming back around … when we can actually gather in person,” she said. “This means a lot to me.”
Board Chair Torrey Smith said Schoolcraft and the committee navigated the process “beautifully” and praised the cooperation it entailed to date. “I’m excited about this direction for our board and our community,” she said.
Although the school is located in Waterbury and serves students from Waterbury and Duxbury, the renaming process was technically open to everyone in the school district to weigh in. Warren’s board members, for example, were split on the issue.
Jonathan Clough acknowledged that some might feel left out of the process, “But I also recognize that there is potential violence to those who were involved in the process, including the children, and the harm in leaving the name as it is without resolution,” he said. “I do also feel the outcome in terms of what the name is going to be is not likely going to considerably change at this point with additional community engagement. And finally, I truly hope this engagement of healing can take place after a name change.”
Jonathan Young, who also represents Warren, favored waiting to approve “Brookside” saying there was “no emergency” to do so now. He urged spending more time to gather more input and involve more people. “And if that means we go into next year without a name change, I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world,” Young said, offering an example from professional sports: “The Washington Redskins changed their name to the Washington Football Team in lieu of a real name and they’re going to go into their second season with no name. We don’t need to do this right now. We could hold on and we can get better feedback and make a better decision later.”
Just before the board voted, Fishman made one final appeal: “There still is time to do better. It’s not about undoing or dishonoring anything that the students have currently done,” she said. “As we’re revisiting it, we could even have some of the same students still involved, the same names still on the table -- but just offer opportunities for people to get involved and more names to come to the table.”
Fishman, Young, and Moretown member Lisa Mason cast the three votes against approving the new name. The rest of the board voted yes with Smith abstaining.
The board did not discuss the next steps related to implementing the name change. Earlier this year, however, Superintendent Nease and Finance Director Michelle Baker said the cost to change the school’s name would be minimal. Nease noted that changing the entire school district from Washington West to Harwood Unified Union was a minimal expense.
The change to Thatcher Brook would entail a new school logo, and staff time to update websites, registrations with state and federal agencies and vendors, and school office materials, Baker said. A school sign likely will require permitting and be the costliest item, she added, but even so, the total cost likely would not exceed a few thousand dollars.
When the board returns
Although Wednesday’s meeting was only in-person, board Chair Torrey Smith said the board plans to conduct hybrid meetings going forward. Attendance over the past year or so with remote meetings over video conferences was strong, Smith said, and the board would like to continue to offer online participation and viewing.
Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos has encouraged local government boards to continue offering the option for the public to join meetings remotely to encourage public access.
The board voted to add a short special meeting to its schedule for July 14 to fill the vacant seat representing Duxbury. Previous member Brian Dalla Mura resigned this month as he has taken a job at Thatcher Brook Primary School starting July 1. District employees may not serve as board members.
The board is seeking applicants for the seat to serve until Town Meeting Day 2022. The spot will then be filled in the March election for the remainder of that term which ends in March 2023. Smith said the July meeting will have remote access for board members and the public to attend although she will be at the Harwood library where others may attend in person as well.
When the board returns in August, the first meeting is scheduled for a Tuesday night, Aug. 24, because the board’s usual meeting night, Wednesday, is the night before the first day of school. Afterward, meetings will be on Wednesdays and although the board’s schedule is usually the second and fourth week of the month, meetings were set for Sept. 8 and 15 in order to meet a mid-September deadline to prepare for a bond vote in November.
The board is aiming to hold a special election on Nov. 2 to ask voters to approve a long-discussed bond to pay for renovations at Harwood Union High School and an expansion to Crossett Brook Middle School in order to accommodate merging all of the district’s seventh- and eighth-grade classes there.
Although there have been discussions and proposals for various construction plans for the past several years, the board has not established the scope of work that this bond would pay for. The possibilities include delayed-maintenance projects such as replacing the high school roof along with upgrades to modernize the high school learning spaces.
Recent estimates discussed by the board have been in the $50-55 million range which would be the district’s largest construction effort ever. For comparison, the annual budget voters approved for the 2021-22 school year is $40.39 million.
Complicating matters now is a construction market with inflated building supply costs due to the pandemic. The board addressed another factor Wednesday that could impact construction plans -- testing for PCB contamination at the high school due to the building’s age.
Facilities Director Ray Daigle attended this week’s meeting to discuss the issue. The state legislature has appropriated funds to start testing Vermont schools built before 1980 when polychlorinated biphenyls were common in building materials such as caulking, sealants, and fluorescent lighting fixtures. The toxic chemicals have since been banned from use.
PCBs in schools have gotten renewed attention by state health, environmental and education officials after high concentrations were found at Burlington High School. As a result, plans to renovate that 1960s facility were halted, the school has been closed and a former department store building in downtown Burlington is now a temporary high school. Burlington is now looking to site, design, and build a new high school which will take several years.
The state Legislature this year appropriated $4.5 million to set up a program to test all schools where PCBs may be present within the next several years. In the Harwood district, that will mean testing in all schools except for Crossett Brook, which was built in the late 1990s.
Daigle said he expects to learn more soon and the board voted to direct him to proceed with testing for Harwood as soon as possible given the importance of the results in planning for the upcoming renovations at the high school.
Labor contracts approved
The school board this week signed off on the newly negotiated three-year contract with the Harwood Union Education Association, the union representing teachers across the school district. The board on June 9 approved a new two-year agreement covering the support staff.
The contract for teachers was achieved after one session with a mediator. Education association co-president Justina Boyden said that was successful in getting both sides to agree on details regarding wage increases for staff.
“Our goal from the start of negotiations was to achieve salary parity, meaning that district-wide, teachers with similar education and experience make the same salary, regardless of which school they teach at,” Boyden said.
“Overall, we are pleased with the new three-year agreement. With the new money that was agreed to, we feel confident that all teachers in our district will be at parity by the end of the agreement.”
School board member Christine Sullivan from Waitsfield was on the district’s negotiating team. She agreed that the final contract should result in significant progress toward salary parity.
The agreement stipulates an overall annual funding increase for teacher wages and leaves it to central office staff collaborating with the union to sort out details for individual staff members.
While the previous contract contained annual increases of 3%, Sullivan shared that the new contract will provide an overall increase of 3.25% in the first year, and 3.5% in each of the subsequent years to be used for raises.
“The hope is that this will allow for significant progress towards that goal, if not allow us to actually realize it,” Sullivan said. “We're glad that we were successfully able to work with our union partners to negotiate a new contract that will allow our staff, the board, and our community a measure of certainty and stability in our budget planning and work in the next few years.”
Boyden agreed, saying the focus on reaching parity with the new contract and the cooperation that will involve is important to “ensure that Harwood is a district that attracts and retains high-quality teachers to provide our children with the best opportunities in all of our schools.”
Superintendent search firm chosen
The board recently issued a request for proposals to hire a search firm to help recruit candidates for the district’s superintendent position as Superintendent Nease’s contract ends in June 2022 and she has said she plans to step down. The district received two replies.
Superintendent Brigid Nease’s contract ends in June 2022. File photo by Gordon Miller.
The board voted to accept the bid from the national firm McPherson & Jacobson in Omaha, Nebraska, for $14,675. The other was from New England School Development Council in Marlborough, Mass., for $12,560. The latter organization is an educational consulting firm with which the Harwood district is already affiliated. It provides research such as enrollment projections and professional development resources.
Smith said the MacPherson & Jacobson proposal was preferred for a number of reasons. She said the firm outlined a process that would include meetings with community groups, something the school board has already set as a priority. Other factors were the firm’s process for checking references and addressing diversity. Its lead consultant who would work with HUUSD has experience as a superintendent in New York state and also worked on the company’s other recent superintendent searches in Vermont for Burlington, Champlain Valley, and Windsor Central school districts.
NESDEC listed Lamoille South as a superintendent reference along with Essex-Westford and Stowe as references for high school principal searches.
The cost difference also was minimal given that the NESDEC bid outlines potential additional fees around advertising, Smith noted. McPherson would also offer support and follow-up in the year after the hire, which could be helpful, she said. “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with such an experienced firm,” Smith said.
The search would aim to have a new candidate before next school year ends.
Another topic at Wednesday’s meeting was a presentation by representatives of the Mad River Valley Planning District and Mad River Housing Coalition about affordable housing in the school district. The slides and discussion focused on available housing, costs of housing, the prevalence of short-term rentals in the market, and the impacts those factors have on families with children being able to afford homes in the district.
The meeting was recorded by Mad River Valley Television and is available to watch online.