School board chooses new leaders, looks ahead to transitions

Top priority is filling board vacancies

March 11, 2022  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

In a short meeting Wednesday evening, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board reorganized to add new members elected on Town Meeting Day and chose new officers to lead the group for the next year. 

The board chose Kristen Rodgers of Moretown to serve as chair and Waterbury member Kelley Hackett as vice chair. 

In nominating Rodgers for the chair position, Fayston member Theresa Membrino explained why she considered Rodgers “an excellent candidate.” She noted that Rodgers before joining the board four years ago served on a community engagement committee; as a board member, Rodgers was on the visioning and finance committees; she worked on contract negotiations, and was involved in the recent superintendent search.   

After choosing the chair and vice chair, the board voted newly elected Warren member Ashley Woods as finance officer and Moretown member Lisa Mason as assistant finance officer. The board members in those roles review records of payments the school district makes in doing business. 

Membrino, who previously served as finance officer, encouraged board members to volunteer for the role. “It has been a fascinating, fascinating journey into where we spend our money in the district. I really recommend it,” she said. 

Newly elected Waitsfield member Roberta “Bobbi” Rood was chosen as recording secretary. 

In each case, there was just one nominee per position and the decisions were nearly unanimous. Waitsfield member Christine Sullivan did not support the nominations of the two Moretown members. She cast the only “no” vote to Rodgers as chair, and she abstained from the vote for Mason. 

The board also designated the principals in each school as district truant officers and named the Valley Reporter and Waterbury Reader as the newspapers of record to publish district legal notices and announcements for the coming year.

Seats still open in Duxbury, Fayston

Although the board easily had a quorum of members, it was not a complete group present on Wednesday as only 11 of the 12 current members were present. Ten members were present in person in the Harwood Union High School library; Warren member Jonathan Young participated via Zoom, and Waterbury board member Marlena Fishman was absent. 

The board has 14 seats -- two each from Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren, and four from Waterbury. Seats representing Duxbury and Fayston failed to attract any candidates in the recent Town Meeting Day election after the previous chair and vice chair, Torrey Smith and Tim Jones, decided not to seek re-election. The board can appoint members to fill the vacancies with appointees serving until Town Meeting Day 2023. 

Anyone interested in those positions should send a letter by April 6 to Rodgers and Superintendent Brigid Nease (email to krodgers@huusd.org and bnease@huusd.org). Rodgers and Hackett said the board could appoint new members as soon as its April 13 meeting if there are applicants.   

Looking ahead 

Rodgers and Hackett on Friday said they briefly discussed priorities for the remainder of the school year. In an email to Waterbury Roundabout, they said the topics they expect to spend time on in the coming weeks in addition to filling the two open board seats would include -- in no particular order -- reviewing board expectations, reviewing an anticipated flag request, and a possible board retreat, as suggested by outgoing board leaders last month. 

The school board in February adopted a district flag policy with guidelines to address requests to fly flags other than the U.S. and Vermont state flags at schools. Students and staff working on anti-racism efforts across the district have expressed interest in flying the Black Lives Matter flag at district schools. The board asked that any requests wait until the policy was in place. 

And although the board typically has held a retreat at the start of the school year in September, outgoing board chair Smith suggested that a retreat in the spring after new members joined the board could be productive. Hackett and Rodgers said a retreat could look ahead to the district’s leadership transition. It also could cover the continuation of anti-racism efforts going forward so that new leaders and new board members are informed and included, Hackett said. 

Restarting the discussions regarding facilities is likely to wait for the new superintendent to arrive. The school board has held off on planning the next steps regarding renovations to Harwood Union High School. Voters in November overwhelmingly rejected a request to bond for nearly $60 million to update the school built in the mid-1960s. Included in that package was funding to expand Crossett Brook Middle School in order to consolidate all seventh- and eighth-grade classes there and end the middle school program at Harwood. The changes for the middle school were contingent on the building expansion and are now on hold. 

Superintendent’s contract signed, new team ahead

The former board put building discussions aside after the November bond vote as its focus then became the search for a new superintendent to succeed Nease who steps down at the end of June after 13 years as the district’s top administrator. The selection process happened between November and February and the board hired Mike Leichliter, currently superintendent in the Penn Manor School District in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Leichliter, who attended Wednesday’s meeting via Zoom, will start July 1. The school board approved Leichliter’s contract which covers three years, through June 30, 2025. His salary for the first year will be $165,000, with annual increases afterward matching the rates called for in the district’s teacher contracts. 

The last contract the school board signed with Nease was for two years, starting July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2022. It called for a first-year salary of $148,567 with an increase matching what teachers received for this school year. 

In addition to welcoming a new superintendent, another important upcoming administrative transition will be the finance manager position as longtime Finance and Operations Manager Michelle Baker is also leaving this summer. Next year’s budget also calls for hiring a human resources manager, a new position for the district. 

The school board has asked Nease to begin recruitment for those positions with the goal of having candidates to hire by the time Leichliter arrives. At the Feb. 9 meeting, Nease said Leichliter would be very involved in those choices. 

“Mike and I have already spoken. It will not be difficult. It’s what superintendents do,” Nease said, explaining that interviews could be held via Zoom with Leichliter participating. She would bring hiring recommendations to the board if they choose candidates before June 30 while she is still in the position. The choices, she said, would reflect Leichliter’s preferences.  

“Ultimately, it’s his decision. A superintendent should hire their team,” Nease said.