School enrollment dips; board hears facilities presentation Wednesday
October 21, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti Oct. 22 Correction: The 2024 enrollment number for Harwood Union MS/HS was 589; it increased by 15 to 604 this year. The original figure below was incorrect.
Enrollment across the Harwood Unified Union School District this year is down slightly from this time last year, according to a report the superintendent shares with the Harwood School Board this week.
As of Oct. 1, the district has 1,787 students enrolled from pre-K through 12th grade. That’s down just under 1.5% from last year’s enrollment of 1,814 students.
Parents and students make their way to Brookside Primary School on the first day of school in August. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The latest data with details by school and grades are compiled in the district’s annual enrollment report that is submitted to the state and shared with the public. It’s contained in the superintendent’s report for the school board’s meeting this Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Some highlights:
Enrollment excluding preschoolers this year is 1,591, down from 1,613 in 2024-25. This is the “first notable dip after roughly four years of relative stability,” the superintendent noted. The greatest drops are seen in early elementary grades – kindergarten and first grade enrollments fell from 123 to 109, and 120 to 115, respectively.
Middle and high school enrollments remain steady. Harwood’s enrollment increased slightly to 604 students (including early college participants), up 15 from 589 students last year.
Intradistrict choice remains popular. That’s the program where families choose to send their student to a different school in the district than the one for students in their town. 100 students this year are attending a different school of their choice (69 continuing from last year and 31 new).
Pre-kindergarten enrollment is down slightly from last year, from 201 to 196 students. Of those, 127 are enrolled in programs at HUUSD schools; the rest attend partner programs at private preschools. The 196 figure is down 10% from the 218 pre-K students the district had enrolled in 2023.
Brookside Primary School and Moretown Elementary School have the most pre-K students (53 and 33, respectively).
The report notes that the district’s trend mirrors statewide statistics. “In short, while district enrollment has been remarkably stable over the past four years, the 2025-26 data signals the beginning of a slow decline concentrated in the earliest grades, reflecting Vermont’s aging population and fewer young families statewide,” Leichliter writes.
Vermont has one of the lowest fertility rates in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Leichliter noted. In 2023, Vermont had about 42 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. Vermont Department of Health statistics also show that the number of live births in the state has remained below pre-pandemic levels for several years, he said. This demographic shift will shape kindergarten and first-grade enrollment in the coming years, the superintendent notes.
Just last week, the district issued a message to the public asking families with children under age 5 to check in with their respective schools to let school officials know of new pre-K and kindergarten students who may be enrolling soon.
Enrollment patterns will be considered as the school board and administration consider long-term planning. “The district will continue to monitor these shifts closely to inform decisions about staffing, space utilization, and program sustainability in the years ahead,” Leichliter writes.
Facility presentation
The bulk of Wednesday’s meeting agenda is reserved for a presentation about school facility conditions. Architects from the Burlington firm TruexCullins will review their detailed look at maintenance needs across the district’s five elementary schools and Crossett Brook Middle School. Their report concludes that the buildings are in need of work totaling $48 million. A similar look at Harwood Union Middle-High School was done several years ago, with the current report pegging those renovation needs at $73 million.
As of Tuesday, the TruexCullins team’s slide presentation was not yet linked to the board’s meeting agenda. Leichliter said that the consultants are updating the slides to include additional data for the meeting. The report was compiled over the summer to help inform the school board’s ongoing discussions regarding building maintenance, potential construction projects to plan for, and a broader discussion of whether the district should continue to operate seven schools.
School district leaders encourage community members to attend either in person or virtually to see the presentation in order to offer feedback and ask questions. So far, Truex has compiled a Q&A document with questions sent in by school board members following the architects’ initial presentation to the school board’s buildings committee in September. That document is linked in the school board’s leadership report on the Wednesday meeting agenda.
Budget forecast & a Fayston opening
Also on Wednesday’s agenda is a short report from district Finance Officer Lisa Estler, who will offer a preliminary budget forecast for next year. The board and administration soon will be working on drafting a proposed budget for the 2026-27 school year to put to voters on Town Meeting Day in March.
The board also will note a recent resignation as Fayston member Mike Bishop has stepped down. The board will appoint a temporary successor who would serve until Town Meeting Day at which point the remaining year on Bishop’s term would be on the ballot. The board is seeking applicants through this Friday, Oct. 24, in order to fill the seat in November. The Fayston Selectboard also will be asked to review applicants to make a recommendation on the appointment.
The board meets at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the Harwood library and via livestream. Meeting recordings are posted on the district’s YouTube channel and Mad River Valley Television. The meeting agenda has links for Zoom (to participate) and YouTube (to watch).