School board sticks with language program cuts ahead of third budget vote
May 26, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiIn its last meeting before the third school budget vote on May 30, the Harwood Unified Union School Board considered requests to find different budget cuts in order to keep the elementary World Language program. But despite pleas from the teachers whose jobs will be cut next school year and an online petition logging new signatures as the meeting progressed, the board refrained from asking the administration for alternatives.
Teachers, parents and students wave to passing motorists along North Main Street in Waterbury last week. Supporters have been campaigning for the latest version of the Harwood school budget for a vote this Thursday, May 30. Photo by Gordon Miller
At its May 22 meeting, the school board also heard from the former leader of the Harwood School Board prior to the district’s merger. Waterbury resident David Goodman who chaired the Harwood Union School Board until mid-2017 along with several other former members of pre-merger school boards in the district have written a letter to the current school board asking the board to prioritize “rightsizing” the school district as a way to curb spending.
The former members from Waterbury, Warren and Waitsfield said they could support the school district’s current third budget proposal for the 2024-25 school year on the May 30 ballot if the school board would commit to putting an advisory question on the November general election ballot asking voters whether they support efforts to consolidate school facilities.
“I have both gratitude and empathy for the work that you’re doing. It’s really important and this is a really hard time,” Goodman said to the board during public comment.
In the years since the school district formed around a union high school in the mid-1960s, Goodman pointed out, it’s shrunk from serving around 2,200 students to 1,600 in grades K-12 today, with a projection of 1,400 K-12 students in 10 years. “If we were designing a school district today for 1,600 kids, would we have five elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school with a number of the elementary schools and the middle schools being minutes apart?” Goodman asked.
He reiterated the suggestion from the group of former school board members — asking voters on the November general election ballot if they would support consolidating schools as a way to bring down operating costs. Having the community weigh in, could give the school board a mandate to move in that direction, Goodman suggested. “We could have a robust healthy student population in a smaller number of schools that more adequately reflects the state of our enrollment today.”
Backdrop: Budget proposal #3
As the school board met on Wednesday, early voting was already open in an unprecedented third election to get a budget in place to run schools after the current budget year ends June 30. The latest proposal of $47,892,873 million is $2.9 million less than the first budget voters rejected on Town Meeting Day in March. On April 30, a second budget of just under $49 million also failed.
The latest budget proposal has been scaled back with overall spending down to a 5.4% increase over the 2023-24 school year — down from a nearly 12% increase in the $50.8 million March budget. School property taxes are still expected to be significantly higher than last year — between 10% and 19% across the district. (Waterbury will see a 14% increase.) But those levels are down markedly from the original budget that called for taxes to grow by 20-30%.
The current proposal on the ballot relies on trimming 27.5 full-time equivalent positions from the district staff next year, mostly through resignations and retirements. But the latest round of cuts involves layoffs including four elementary World Language teachers who teach students in grades K-6 across the district. Foreign language instruction next year would start in seventh grade.
The latest budget also eliminates three administrative positions: a coordinator role working with students with disabilities which currently is vacant, and layoffs of the district’s Director of Student Support Services and an assistant information technology manager.
The school district has posted information about the latest budget proposal on the HUUSD.org website including the latest slide presentation from the May 20 informational meeting and a Frequently Asked Questions document.
In the FAQ is a note indicating that the next level of spending cuts should the budget fail on May 30 would involve student athletics, co-curricular activities such as clubs and theater, and “additional programs and positions, similar to elementary world language in the third vote, that are outside of the bare minimum state-required services will need to be reduced.”
Unlike the run-up to the first two failed budget votes, supporters for the latest proposal have emerged and have been active in the past week making signs, waving along busy streets in Waterbury and elsewhere in the district. Meanwhile, debate among supporters and opponents has been busy on Front Porch Forums, Facebook and Opinion sections in the local newspapers. Those in favor generally advocate against more spending cuts that will eliminate staff and programs and more. Those arguing against approving the budget cite the still-steep property tax increases in the latest version and the need to both curb spending further and revise Vermont’s education funding formula. (Read more in the Opinion section.)
Making a case for language learning
Wednesday’s meeting opened with world language teachers making their case for retaining the program which is one of the “specials” along with subjects such as art, music, and physical education that all students at the elementary level have a few days each week.
District World Language Department Head and French teacher, Marcus Grace has taught Harwood for over 25 years and grew up in Waterbury attending schools in the district. He recounted experiences in elementary school hearing a teacher speak Spanish to his fourth-grade class; later he was introduced to French. “My world was getting bigger, and my dreams were too,” he said.
The idea of learning other languages captivated his imagination, led to his chosen career path, and even influenced the decision that he and his spouse raise their children in a bilingual home, Grace said.
Today, the elementary World Language program provides a similar window to the world for students in Harwood schools, he continued. Grace said he fears that losing that introduction in early grades will diminish interest among 7th and 8th graders within a few years and that may spell the demise of world language instruction that now includes French, Spanish, Latin and American Sign Language entirely. “What is a source of pride for us now will become an embarrassment,” he cautioned.
To underscore the value of even part-time language instruction at the elementary level, Harwood French teacher Nikki Matheson used her comment time to walk through the linguistic, grammatical and cultural details found by breaking down the popular French nursery rhyme/song “Frère Jacques” or “Brother John.” She explained to the board how one seemingly small rhyme could be a springboard to numerous avenues of learning when introduced to young children. “All of this information is in a 16-second song,” she said.
Brookside Primary School French teacher Rebecca Chartrand alerted the board to an online petition she launched just three days prior to rally public support for keeping the language program. The petition garnered some 22 additional signatures during the time the school board met, climbing from 260 at 6 p.m. to 282 by 9:45 p.m. As of Sunday afternoon, May 26, there were 342 signers.
All of the staff who spoke asked the board to take time to discuss the possibility of finding budget cuts to substitute for the elementary World Language program. They also stressed their support for the current budget proposal on the May 30 ballot. Harwood math and science teacher Beth Gravelle said she would like to see the district keep the language program which she values for her own children, and she’s been out waving signs in support of the budget, nonetheless. “I support our budget and will vote yes on it, but this cut to this important program and losing these valuable colleagues is something I really need to speak about tonight,” she told the board.
A budget supporter waves to passing motorists near the Waterbury roundabout in downtown Waterbury last week. Photo by Gordon Miller
Not a realistic switch
School board members thanked the staff members who spoke during public comment saying they regret that the program is to be cut. No alternative cuts were suggested as substitutions. With a $357,000 price tag, that line item is the largest spending reduction in the current budget proposal.
Superintendent Mike Leichliter said he was willing to take direction from the board if it wanted to substitute other cuts, but he cautioned that the recommendation came from the administration team in large part because it is not a required program. “It’s not a program we like to see go,” he said, adding a caution that, “we’re looking at multiple years of reductions.”
The board debated the merits of changing the spending cut given that voting has already begun on the latest budget. A change would also mean impacting different personnel. Moretown board member Steven Rosenberg made a motion for the board to ask Leichliter and district Finance Director Lisa Estler to look for other cuts in order to keep the elementary language program. It failed by a vote of 9-3. (Rosenberg along with Warren member Jonathan Young and Waterbury member Dan Roscioli voted in favor; Fayston member Danielle Dukette was absent; Chair Ashley Woods from Warren did not vote.)
The board also discussed and approved a draft letter in response to the former board members on the consolidation topic. None of the board members supported the idea of a community advisory vote in November.
“I feel like the community is putting pressure on us to timebox us on this,” Waterbury member Elizabeth Brown said, acknowledging the need to assure the community that the board intends to look at consolidation and many other ideas to bring down school spending with the FY26 budget in mind.
Fayston member Mike Bishop reported on the newly formed Finance Committee’s first meeting saying the group that he’s now chairing plans to meet over the summer to begin a detailed review so it can make recommendations to the full board in the fall. “Part of our discussion last week was about consolidation,” he said. “We think that’s inevitable. What that looks like, we don’t know yet.”
Woods said she would expect the Finance Committee to share a timeline for its work soon, but noted that the group needs time to get started. “I feel comfortable reassuring the community that we are doing this in a timely fashion,” Woods said. “If anyone thinks we’re dragging our heels, they’re out of their minds. This is our sole focus for the entire year.”
Superintendent’s contract
At the end of the public part of the meeting, the school board held an executive session to discuss the superintendent’s employment contract. Leichliter was hired in 2022 with a three-year contract ending in 2025. It stipulates that the board would notify Leichliter by Aug. 31, 2024, regarding whether it intended to renew the contract.
When the board re-entered public session, Woods told Leichliter that the board would like to renew the contract and would negotiate the details in August. “We all love you and think you’re great and we want you to stay forever,” she remarked with a laugh.
Leichliter said he would like to continue in his position. “It’s been an honor to be here. It’s a place my wife and I really desired to be,” he said, thanking Woods and Vice Chair Cindy Senning for the evaluation they conveyed during the closed session and the advance notice on his contract.
After moving to Vermont from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a school district superintendent, Leichliter said he didn’t anticipate that the budgeting process would be as difficult as it has been this year. “I’ve been through budget reductions before, but not in the state of Vermont,” he said. “I came to this district to help build and grow, not to cut.”
Leichliter said he sees improvements ahead. “We want to make sure we continue to work hard for our students,” he said.
Woods commented on the impact Leichliter has had on the tenor from the administration in his two years on the job. “I speak for all of us when I say it’s such a calming and amazing experience to have you here in our daily life on this board. It’s hard to not draw comparisons from the past, but I always feel like now we are moving forward…We think you’re great. Thank you very much.”
“I’m always open to feedback and ways to improve,” Leichliter replied.
“Amazing. Wow. Even that,” Wood quipped.
Other business
The board took action on several other matters at the May 22 meeting:
It voted to update its public comment policy for meetings to allow for comments longer than 3 minutes and to allow people to comment during the meeting on a particular topic. Changes are highlighted in a document in the meeting agenda. The board also decided to end its practice of having members draft board meeting “recaps” that are posted on the school district website and shared on Front Porch Forum. Board members discussed and agreed that the practice was redundant with meeting minutes which are posted on the school district website as well.
In an ongoing process to update district policies, the board had its first review of several draft policies listed on the meeting agenda including items covering electronic communications, student athletics, clubs and activities, and video footage recorded on school buses.
The board recognized Harwood senior student members Naomi Myers and Dylan Mauro, thanking them for their participation at what was likely their final meeting. The school board has up to four seats for student members, typically two seniors and two juniors. Student members may vote on board matters but their votes are not tallied with those of the elected members. Myers said she is headed to McGill University following graduation and Mauro said he plans to attend Penn State University. Harwood’s graduation is Saturday, June 8.