LETTER: Not supporting the proposed Harwood budget
January 29, 2024I attended the Jan. 22 Harwood School Board meeting. It allows a total of 15 min. for public comment before the board begins discussion of business. With six members of the public planning to speak, there were only a couple of minutes per speaker to fit in the allotted time. I read points 1 and 2 below and left written copies of my full comments with the school board after I spoke. I wanted to share my comments in full with the community at large.
I. There was an article in the Waterbury Roundabout on August 23, 2024, about the new three-year teachers contract. Since the contract impacts the budget, I want to be on the record clarifying a statement in the article: “The new three-year contract covers approximately 220 teachers across all of the schools in the Harwood district. It will increase teacher salaries by an average of 6.5% over three years.” Since it was not 100% clear what “6.5% over three years” meant, I contacted the Harwood finance director who confirmed that the contract provided for an increase of 6.5% per year for three years. Since increases compound as years pass, this means that the total increase will have been 20.8% over three years. Other than the observation that last year the school administration and school board said they would need some “time” to begin to reduce spending and then went on to approve this increase, it makes me wonder how they expect to cut spending.
II. I hope there will be some meetings to present the school budget and explain it to the public prior to Town Meeting Day. There are a few things that are not clear to me in reviewing the Jan. 8 budget update on the [school district] website, but it appears that the proposed HUUSD FY26 budget requests a 2.75% increase in total educational spending over last year. Last year the approved increase was 5.44%. That would make the two-year compounded request for an 8.3% increase. In comparison, Vermont seniors on social security received cost of living increases of 3.2% last year and 2.5% this year, or a compound increase of 5.8%. So the request over the two years is to increase school spending at a rate 43% higher than the rate of income growth for seniors. In my opinion, there should be no increase in spending this year if the goal is truly to reduce spending over time.
III. Last year the third budget request passed only after numerous advocates suggested that our representatives in Montpelier heard our message. Well, both Waterbury representatives voted to override Gov. Scott's vetoes associated with education spending. Waterbury, in our infinite wisdom, re-elected both representatives and all three senators. Fortunately, other parts of Vermont did choose to change their legislators and there is no longer a super-majority in the State House. However, I am yet to hear any proposals to trim education spending, like maybe the $29 million Universal Free Meals program that did not exist before COVID. Most of the rhetoric that I see from the education community is that there is not a spending problem, the problem is in funding. I submit there is both and I urge the school board to revise the current budget request before town meeting. I will not be supporting the current proposal.
Steven Martin
Waterbury