Op-Ed: Harwood, What Are Ya Doin’?

February 20, 2025  |  By John Kerrigan

The Harwood Unified Union School District School Board’s Finance Committee is looking into eliminating several sports programs for the 2027 budget year.

According to Harwood Athletic Director Ian Fraunfelder, there would be significant savings if all middle school programs and many off-site high school programs were moved to community-based programs. 

Hmmm, what is off-site? 

Certainly, bass fishing, tennis, golf, alpine skiing (Nordic is on-site – at least it was when I was there in 2015) and gymnastics. What about ice hockey? They are not on site. 

Mr. Fraunfelder says that Ice Hockey would not be touched because there are no community-based programs that would give students an opportunity to play. Are there community-based programs for golf, bass fishing and tennis? I am aware of the community-based Green Mountain Valley School Alpine program for alpine skiing and the Bill Koch program for Nordic, but these are geared toward elementary and middle school-age students, not high school.  

If some of these programs are to be community-based, shouldn’t the directors of these community-based programs be consulted?

School board member Dan Roscioli of Waterbury said that he “talked to Waterbury Rec Department personnel as well as some Harwood coaches and heard deep concerns about planning and the fact that they hadn’t been involved in any of these preliminary discussions.”

The bottom line is that movement to community-based programs means that many students will lose opportunities to participate in sports. 

This change is in direct conflict with the Harwood mission statement: “It is the mission of Harwood Union Middle/High School to provide an educational and creative environment in which every person is valued as an individual, challenged as a learner, inspired to contribute to a democratic society, and provided a unique and personalized learning experience.”

As stated on the Harwood webpage under “About” where it lists highlights: “CO-CURRICULAR programming is robust and has impressive student involvement in state championship teams, award-winning music, theatre, art programs, 37 junior varsity/varsity sports, and 16 student-led clubs.”

The word co-curricular is used here. Interesting that Harwood chose the word “co-curricular” instead of “extra-curricular.” By placing the prefix “co-” in front of “curricular” it defines the role of sports at Harwood: Unlike extra-curricular activities, co-curricular activities complement the academic learning curriculum. Specifically, co-curricular activities are related in some way to the regular curriculum while extracurricular activities are not. 

Therefore, according to Harwood’s own mission statement and the description by Harwood on its own webpage, sports are part of the curriculum offered at Harwood. And they should be! 

My experience at Harwood as a three-season coach and classroom teacher for over 38 years has provided me with a unique insight into the impact of sports on student learning. 

As a classroom teacher and coach, I was always looking for something intrinsically located in the mind of a student that would motivate them to excel. Participation in sports was often one of those motivational triggers. 

Not only was it a motivational trigger but participation in athletics enriched student learning. Experiences learned while giving it your all on the trails, ski slopes, pitches, gymnasiums, rinks, mats or arenas provided invaluable insights and opportunities in learning life-long skills. 

Excellence in academics also carries over into athletics. Dozens of the athletes I had the pleasure of coaching became valedictorians and salutatorians at graduation. Participation in sports enriches student learning.

In addition, Harwood is a regional school with students from six towns together in the classroom. Why should they be isolated in sports programs? When I first started at Harwood (1977-78) this isolation was real. I would hear comments like, “Are you going out for baseball?” “No, the baseball coach is from Waterbury, I’m from the Valley. I probably won't make the team – and if I do I will see very little playing time.”

So then, if sports are part of the curriculum, isn’t their removal or transition to community-based programs the responsibility of the HUUSD Curriculum Committee? Has the Harwood Curriculum Committee agreed to these changes? 

In the last decade, Harwood has eliminated the on-site vocational curriculum (building trades, wood and metal shop, mechanical drawing, etc.), honors classes, and now sports? What’s next?  Will it be music, art and performing arts such as the annual spring school musical?   

No wonder parents who can afford it are seeking other public and private school alternatives for their children. 

I understand the frustrations of the HUUSD School Board. They need to reduce expenses to make the final budget figures more palatable to us taxpayers. If the school board is looking for ways to make cuts that would have the least impact on students, cutting sports is not one of them. I know of many other cuts that could be made that would have a much lesser impact on student learning. I could list them here, but this newspaper has already been generous enough with their space.   

Duxbury resident John Kerrigan is a former Harwood science teacher, cross country, Nordic and track coach, and member of the Run Vermont Hall of Fame. His new book, “Just Raise Your Left Hand,” is a collection of short stories based on his teaching and coaching career.