LETTER: Athletics, theatre, clubs eyed for next round of school budget cuts
May 22, 2024To the Community:
Have you read the Frequently Asked Questions document from the Harwood Unified Union School District about this next budget vote? If you haven't read it yet, you should, there is one passage in particular that gives me immense pause:
Q: If this next budget doesn't pass, what would be the next round of reductions?
A: Additional cuts would have to be considered in staffing and programming. Core education would be prioritized. Here are the next round of possible cuts:
Athletic programs could be eliminated
Co-curricular activities such as theater productions and student clubs
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.
Yes, you read it right, athletics, and theatre. Core education would be prioritized, which also means the possibility of cuts to music, art, PE, and world languages. We have a social contract with the youth of our communities to give them the best education possible, all evenly bearing the cost. And that may mean uncomfortable moments while we work through this process.
Before I had kids I paid taxes so that others' children could have a decent education, and I plan to after my kids move on into the adult world.
Can you imagine our district without its Cross Country team? Without our Assembly Band? How about no music or theatre? The art that fills the halls could go away. I have spent 15 years at Harwood directing the theatre program, and this is something I never thought I would see. An auditorium full of families enjoying live theatre could be gone. If this budget can't pass, we may see our schools stripped down to the bones, and then what will we fight about?
I live in this district, have two kids who attend school here, and I worry about what HUUSD could become. I know having our taxes raised is not ideal, but if we can't get this budget passed, we stand on the precipice of some tough changes coming our way, the kind of changes that could make Harwood a district people leave.
Please consider voting "yes" on May 30, helping to get the word out that a "no" this time means no going back, and then let's get together to push our legislators and school board to find solutions that work for our state and our district.
Scott Weigand
Waterbury Center