School Board urges voters to support budget, cast ballots by mail

May 26, 2020  | By The HUUSD Board

Dear members of our six-town community,

We write to ask you to support the school district budget at the special HUUSD budget vote on June 16th and to request your mail-in ballot from your town clerk. 

As you know, the first budget we put before voters at Town Meeting Day failed. Since then, the Board and our district leaders have met several times to develop a second budget for your consideration. We believe the new budget proposal, for $39,751,941, ensures high-quality education for our students and makes responsible use of your tax dollars.

The primary difference in the revised budget is that it does not include the consolidation of any grades and maintains the current school configurations. The savings previously projected from the proposed mergers have been made through small and strategic cuts throughout the district. These cuts include reductions in spending on professional development, adjusting staffing to better reflect current student enrollments and savings through staff retirements. While we would not want to make many of these cuts on an ongoing basis, we thought them acceptable to implement while the district completes its long-term planning process and wades through this COVID storm.

The revised budget is $20,401 less than the one proposed on Town Meeting Day. However, as a result of offsetting revenues, education spending by the district is reduced by approximately $112,000 from the current 2020 school year. The total proposed expenditures are about 3% higher than last year’s budget, lower than the statewide average of almost 5%. This increase is driven by double-digit health insurance premium increases, previously negotiated salary increases, and maintenance needs in the schools. Student population continues to decline, which impacts the resulting equalized tax rate.

Since March, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our state’s economy, which will have a dramatic impact on the education fund. While there has been some talk of a statewide response in the legislature and from the Governor, there has been no definitive guidance on what we can expect for assistance for the upcoming school year.  Therefore, we invite you to take a closer look at the budget when considering your vote.  This coming week, on Wednesday, May 27th, the Board will host a Budget Hearing with Q & A at 6 pm through Zoom. This hearing will be similar to the Annual Meeting we have before Town Meeting Day. By then, we also anticipate sharing a budget fact sheet and a list of Frequently Asked Questions through our HUUSD.org website.  As always, community members are invited to reach out directly to Board members through email or phone calls.

On June 16th, voting will look a little different in each town, but the town clerks are working with the Secretary of State’s Office to meet COVID-19 guidelines and ensure open, democratic participation. While there will be in-person voting, voters are strongly urged to request absentee ballots, by calling or emailing their town clerk. These ballots must be returned by June 16th.  

Thank you for your on-going support of our HUUSD schools.

Caitlin Hollister, Chair

Torrey Carroll Smith, Vice Chair

Harwood Unified Union School District Board of Directors