LETTER: ‘Put students first’ in crafting the school budget

January 13, 2025

To the Community:

I would like to submit for readers comments that I presented to the Harwood Unified Union School Board at their Jan. 8 meeting. The text follows below.

My name is Beth Gravelle and I am a science and math teacher at Harwood Union High School and a proud parent of a Moretown Elementary School student. I also serve as the secretary and member of the Executive Committee of the Harwood Unified Education Association. On behalf of my fellow members, I want to reiterate our commitment to our schools, our communities, our educators, and, most importantly, our students. I know each of you on the board shares those commitments and tries hard every day to do what’s best for the children we serve.

One of the best ways to show your dedication is to put students first when crafting your budget. Like you, we don’t want to have to hold multiple votes like we did last year. To prevent that from happening, we urge you to put students first. Determine what students need – don’t start the process with cuts in mind. We know the communities we serve share our dedication to our schools and students. They will support a budget that puts kids first. 

Last year, you cut 27 positions. Not only were many of those “positions” fellow community members, they were the folks who deliver programs our students need. Unfortunately, we see the potential for 20 more cuts this coming year. We implore you to reevaluate the effects those cuts will have on students.

We stand ready to help you identify what students need and what programs we must continue to offer. To that end, we are asking to be a part of the process – you are already talking to administrators from each building about cuts. As the front-line educators who work with students every day, we can give you a realistic assessment of the damage cutting programs and staff causes. 

Working together, we can chart a path forward with a proposed budget that puts students first. We trust the community will support the board’s spending plan if they truly know that you have put their children at the forefront of your efforts. 

Thank you for your time.

Beth Gravelle

Moretown 

Moretown resident Beth Gravelle is a science teacher at Harwood Union High School, a parent of a middle schooler, and an officer with the Harwood Union Education Association labor union. 

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