Part 2: HUUSD Budget Community Survey Results
This is the second of two parts reporting on the community survey by Waterbury Roundabout and The Valley Reporter regarding the proposed 2024-25 Harwood Unified Union School District budget that failed to win voter approval on Town Meeting Day.
Part 1: In newspaper survey, voters sound off on failed school budget
Local newspapers asked and the community answered with specific, detailed comments about how and why they voted as they did on the Harwood school budget on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
Board considers budget revisions, calls for new Waterbury members
Following a stinging defeat of the proposed 2024-25 school budget, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board has so far met twice since the March 5 vote. Discussion has begun on how to revise the budget with the goal of earning voters' approval at the ballot box this spring. The board also hopes to recruit two new Waterbury members.
Harwood school board regroups to rework FY25 budget
Faced with a resounding rejection of the proposed 2024-25 school budget at the ballot box last week, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board met late last week ahead of schedule to reorganize and begin discussing next steps to bring a new budget to voters later this spring.
Career center budget comfortably approved in 18-town vote
The Central Vermont Career Center School District got the collective nod it needed from voters in 18 towns — most of them members of other districts where school budgets didn’t fare as well this week.
Newspapers launch community survey for feedback on budget vote
Waterbury Roundabout and The Valley Reporter are collaborating on this voter survey as a follow up to the defeat of the Harwood Unified Union School District's proposed $50.8 million budget on Town Meeting Day.
Voters reject $50.8 million Harwood budget, support maintenance funding
Voters in the Harwood Unified Union School District voted Tuesday to send school leaders back to the drawing board on a school budget for 2024-25, but they also told them to stick with investing in school building maintenance.
School board: Leaders bid farewell, 2024-25 calendar set, and more
Harwood’s calendar for the 2024-25 school year has just been set and it includes a schedule juggle in November that gives students Election Day off.
One school budget – three weeks – three price tags
Harwood’s proposed $50.8 million budget for the 2024-25 school year in the past three weeks has had three different estimated price tags for taxpayers – without the budget changing a penny.
School district, support staff union reach tentative contract agreement
The Harwood Unified Union School District administration and representatives of the school district’s support staff association have reached a tentative agreement in their labor negotiations for a new contract replacing the one that ended last June.
School board on budget: ‘Let the voters decide’
Taxpayers in the Harwood Unified Union School District could expect to see the school portion of their property tax bills go up by 30% to 40% later this year if they approve the $50.8 million school budget on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
Memorial scholarship fund supports travel for seven Harwood students
The local nonprofit Launch Into Foreign Travel program has announced that it has awarded $6,575 in scholarships to seven Harwood Union High School students traveling to Rwanda, Denmark and India this year.
TONIGHT: School board to review budget scenarios ahead of March 5 vote
The Harwood Unified Union School District School Board meets tonight to review fresh calculations from the administration to inform their discussion of how to present a proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year to the voters.
School budget fate may eclipse renovation bond progress
As they follow the shifting landscape of public school funding guidelines coming from Montpelier, Harwood school leaders say the financial turbulence involved in settling next school year’s budget could derail hopes for putting a construction bond to voters in November.
Harwood students are VT winners in Samsung STEM contest
The Harwood Middle School team participating in the 14th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition has been named the Vermont state winner in the national innovation contest.
Vermont gets a ‘road map’ for confronting its school construction needs
A long-awaited report on how Vermont should address its billions of dollars in school construction needs arrived in the Legislature on Thursday.
School district announces Duxbury & Rt. 2 bus changes effective immediately
On Wednesday morning, Harwood school district officials announced imminent changes to several bus routes mainly in Duxbury that go into effect tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 1.
School leaders appeal to lawmakers to change Act 127
Representatives from 14 Vermont school districts and supervisory unions presented statements on the unintended consequences of Act 127 to legislators on Tuesday, highlighting the catastrophic financial scenarios towns are expecting across the state.
Bond, budget meetings on school district calendar Jan. 30-Feb. 1
It’s a busy week on the Harwood Unified Union School District calendar next week.
Likely school budget comes with substantial property tax impacts
With a late January deadline to finalize budgets for Town Meeting Day, the Harwood Unified Union School Board has selected the budget draft it would like to put to voters and the bottom-line tax impacts are substantial.