LETTER: School Board prepares Q/A documents on budget and consolidation
August 11, 2026To the Community:
As the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board prepares for the 2026-27 school year, two major topics on its agenda are the next school budget and the possibility of school consolidation. There are now FAQ documents on the school budget and on consolidation on the HUUSD Budget webpage.
School budget and state funding
The school budget FAQ focuses on the continuing crisis we face in funding K-12 education in the Harwood district. Legislation passed this year (Act 170) forces cuts in the school budget, even as our healthcare, special ed, mental health, transportation and utility costs increase much faster than inflation. The legislature’s and governor’s actions reflect the conflict between providing a strong education for our students and rising property taxes. Unfortunately, in our view, Montpelier has adopted an “all-sticks-no-carrots” approach to this conflict by forcing budget cuts while not addressing ways to cap these cost drivers. We understand these are very difficult issues, but adopting the approach of “just cut the school budget” hurts our kids more than it helps taxpayers.
Preliminary discussion on school consolidation
The budget crisis forces us to consider school consolidation within the district, and Act 170 mandates that we consider merging with other school districts. The consolidation FAQ covers the (very!) preliminary discussion of a subcommittee of the school board.
One proposal is to move the Crossett Brook Middle School students to join the other middle school students at Harwood, move the elementary school students at Brookside to Crossett Brook and close Brookside, and build a new elementary school somewhere in the valley while closing the four current valley elementary schools.
This is a long, complicated process with pros and cons, and is just beginning. The school board needs strong input from the community at every step of the way.
As for the finances, consolidation of schools in the district will have large up-front costs but has the potential to reinvent the district in a way that improves education and saves money.
Please read the FAQs and share your views. You can always give public comment at school board and subcommittee meetings, either in person or via Zoom, and your School Board representatives welcome your email comments.
The board’s Building Use and Visioning Committee meets next on Monday, Aug. 18, at 4:30 p.m. Its agenda with Zoom link will be posted here. It also will be livestreamed on YouTube with the recording posted there.
The school board’s first meeting back from summer recess will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, in the Harwood library and accessible via Zoom and on YouTube. The agenda will be posted here.
Ashley Woods, Warren
HUUSD School Board Chair
Cindy Senning, Duxbury
HUUSD School Board Vice Chair