Proposed school construction totals $59.5 million
September 4, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Proposed renovations to Harwood Union High School, built in 1965, are estimated at $53.5 million. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Although it’s not an election year, local voters may be asked to go to the polls this November to consider what would be the largest bond issue for school construction in the history of the Harwood Union School District.
At the Aug. 24 meeting of the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board, architects presented a breakdown of proposed construction for Harwood Union High School totaling $53.5 million. An expansion to Crossett Brook Middle School to accommodate merging all seventh- and eighth-graders into that facility would add another $6 million for a total cost of $59.5 million.
For the past six years, district leaders have been discussing a major bond to address overdue repairs, renovations and upgrades to the high school which was built in 1965. The school’s last expansion with some repairs was in 1998.
Work on the drawing board presented by the Burlington architectural firm Truex Cullins and South Burlington construction management contractor ReArch would address needed repairs such as replacing the roof and antiquated HVAC and plumbing systems. It would expand science labs that do not meet modern standards. Windows with meager insulation – some still originals from the 1960s – would be replaced and a key goal would be to reconstruct interior areas of the building to add windows and light to classrooms and work spaces that presently receive no natural light.
School leaders and designers have crafted plans designed to create spaces that lend themselves to learning and teaching practices in use today where students work in small groups, do presentations, and spend time with hands-on projects that require space to move around. Co-Principal Meg McDonough in introducing some of the elements noted that educational practices in the 1960s consisted largely of classes with students seated in rows of desks and teachers lecturing in a “stand-and-deliver” model.
The designs also allow for classrooms in specific subject areas to be located together such as humanities and STEM offerings. Other space would be devoted to a wellness center, a dedicated area for ninth grade classes, and more room for gatherings for various activities.
Some of the high school construction would be aimed at making the building more efficient in areas like lighting, dehumidification, and insulation, resulting in energy savings estimated at $45,000 annually. Shifting uses and spaces within the building as a result of the project and the merger of middle school students to Crossett Brook would also allow the district to move its central offices from leased space to the high school facility.
Other elements of the design would address safety. Facilities Manager Ray Daigle described how various small vehicles on the high school campus are stored within the school building near the cafeteria. That would not meet modern building practices for safety, he said. Other issues are inadequate lighting in the parking lot and around the building, he said. The site also will need work to address stormwater issues to comply with new environmental regulations.
Two big parts of the high school proposal address deficiencies in the school’s athletics and physical education facilities. Architects have designed a new second gymnasium with a $5.7 million price tag. The second gym would allow for more physical education classes, better scheduling for athletics, and facility availability for community groups, school officials said.
In presenting the gym portion of the design, it was suggested that Harwood is one of a few high schools in Vermont with only one gym. That point sparked some discussion on social media afterward with individuals noting various schools around the state and the number of gyms they have.
Bob Johnson is executive director of the Vermont Principals Association which oversees high school athletics in Vermont. He said that all Division II schools in Vermont have a gym for indoor sports and activities. Harwood is in D-II for most of its athletics.
“The big question is what is the size of the gym or does the school have a second gym,” Johnson said. “A good example is U-32. They officially have only one gym, but it can be split up into two full-size gyms by using dividers. Another example is Vergennes Union High School. Vergennes has a full-size gym, but they also have a secondary gym in the school that is regulation size. This was done when they did some facilities improvements and it gives them a huge additional resource.”
Johnson noted that those schools are more the exception than the rule. “Most schools however, only have one gym, and usually it is used to its fullest capacity. Between physical education courses and school sports teams, schools have a tough time scheduling usage because of all the needs,” he noted.
The architect’s presentation to the school board also includes designs to replace the school’s gravel running track with a modern facility at a cost estimated at $2.88 million. The track has long been in need of updating. “Currently, we do not have a track that other schools are willing to visit,” Co-Principal Laurie Greenberg noted.
Expansion at Crossett Brook
The proposed addition to Crossett Brook Middle School would be constructed as a new wing onto the building in the area where the gravel parking lot is now. File photo by Gordon Miller
At Crossett Brook, the designs call for adding a new wing between the building and the solar array in the area where the faculty parking lot is now. This would be the first major construction at the school since it was built in 1996. Adding students from grades 7 and 8 from Harwood Middle School would mean about 100 more students and 15 more teaching staff to the school.
The school board earlier this year in deciding to combine those grades at Crossett, said it would do so without the use of temporary buildings, making the expansion to accommodate the added enrollment the first step in the series of moves needed to update both buildings.
The design plans call for reconfiguring some site features such as a fire-access road around the building and some of the parking, but the site’s size can accommodate these changes, school Principal Tom Drake said.
In addition to several classrooms for the new students, smaller office and meeting space would be included as well as a large room with amphitheatre seating for 150 people. The school currently has no auditorium; its cafeteria serves that function.
Middle school decision had to come first
Complicating the decision-making around the Harwood construction project has been the question of whether and how to combine all of the district’s grade 7 and 8 students. Students in those grades from Duxbury and Waterbury attend Crossett Brook and students from the district’s other four towns attend Harwood Middle School.
However, since the district merged into a unified district, many families from the Mad River Valley communities have taken advantage of the intradistrict choice policy, opting to send their students to Crossett Brook for seventh and eighth grade. The result is dwindling enrollment at Harwood Middle School which has prompted concerns about equity in class sizes, programming and more.
This fall, for example, Crossett Brook has 161 seventh- and eighth-graders; Harwood Middle School has 96, Drake said.
The school board last spring decided to move ahead with combining those classes and to do so at Crossett Brook. But it also voted to not take that step until the Crossett Brook building was expanded to accommodate the added enrollment. Earlier discussions included the possibility of temporary classrooms but the board opted instead for permanent construction without the intermediate step of temporary buildings.
School officials in 2020 were poised to move ahead with a bond to address Harwood Union High School but multiple events sidetracked that plan. Voters in March 2020 rejected the school budget which relied on combining the middle schools at Crossett Brook. That led to a revote in June 2020 where voters approved the $39.7 million budget with no middle school merger included.
Both the merger discussion, and in turn the bond planning, was put on the back burner last year as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. This year, after deciding to combine the seventh and eighth grades, school leaders then turned their focus to the needed facility repairs, renovations, etc. with November on the horizon for a bond vote.
Over the summer, a committee of several board members met to discuss a community engagement plan to present the bond proposal to voters ahead of Nov. 2. At its meeting Aug. 24, the board voted to approve the plan which calls for a community survey which is currently open and more outreach leading up to the vote.
PCB QUESTION
One question whose answer could affect the project will not be answered before Sept. 15, the date by which the school board needs to finalize the bond proposal to put on the ballot for November. School officials have discussed whether to have testing done at Harwood High School to detect whether there is significant contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls, referred to as PCBs. Between 1950 and 1978, the chemicals were common in building materials such as caulking, sealants, and fluorescent lighting fixtures. The toxic chemicals have since been banned from use after being shown to cause cancer and other detrimental health impacts.
PCBs in schools have gotten renewed attention by state health, environmental and education officials after high concentrations were found at Burlington High School last year. As a result, plans for a $70 million renovation effort for that 1960s facility were halted. The school has been closed and the former Macy’s department store building in downtown Burlington is now a temporary high school.
The Burlington School Board last month narrowed its list to 12 potential sites for a new high school that they hope to have ready for the 2025-26 school year.
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. The topic on testing at Harwood will be addressed at this week’s school board meeting.
Surveying the community
The timeline for the Harwood board to commit to a Nov. 2 vote is tight. There are just two upcoming meetings on Sept. 8 and 15 to discuss the construction plans. In order to meet election requirements, the board would need to decide by Sept. 15 what it would present to voters on the November ballot.
Should the bond vote move ahead and be successful, construction would begin at Crossett Brook in 2022 with a goal of combining the seventh and eighth grades for the 2023-24 school year. Work on the high school facility would start in 2023 with a target to be completed during the 2024-25 school year.
The school board is looking to hear from the public in an online survey it created last week following the architect’s presentation. The survey is on the HUUSD.org website and it contains a link to the project slides that architects from the Truex Culllins and construction management firm ReArch used to outline the details. The survey is open through Tuesday, Sept. 7.
What’s unclear is just how much construction the school board will ask voters to pay for now.
The proposal presented last week by project designers totals $59.5 million. Board members at the end of last week’s meeting generally voiced support for the plan and a willingness to “sell” it to the community.
The survey, however, suggests a scenario for doing just $36 million of work at Harwood and “minimal” classroom additions at Crossett Brook.
Questions ask the public to consider and offer feedback on various elements of the project such as the high school gym and track pieces and meeting space at the middle school. To gauge public support, it offers five bond options in $10 million increments from $40-70 million with one option being no bond at all. (Should the bond not win support, the survey notes, school officials would need to turn to a “piecemeal” approach for the high school’s most needed repairs using maintenance reserve funds. That could mean higher costs in the long run, school officials note.)
The survey also lists the property tax impact on homes of three different values which are outlined in the presentation slides. A 20-year $60 million bond, for example, that would pay for the work outlined in the presentation last week would mean an annual property tax increase of $437 for a home valued at $250,000; $611 for a $350,000 home; and $873 for a $500,000 home.
The school board will meet at 6 p.m. in hybrid session on Sept. 8 and 15. The public may attend in person at the Harwood Union High School library or online via Zoom or watching on YouTube. The agenda with the video link and background information for the Sept. 8 meeting is online. The board is allowing for 30 minutes of public comment time on Sept. 8. The online survey regarding school construction will be open through Tuesday, Sept. 7.
Project presentation
The HUUSD School Board received a presentation on the proposed construction at Harwood Union High School and Crossett Brook Middle School recently. Here are key slides. The Aug. 24 meeting recording with the presentation and discussion is online on the HUUSD YouTube channel and on Mad River TV.