November 6, 2026 | By JB Weir and Alexina CatherEditor’s note: The letter below is written by Waitsfield’s two members on the Harwood School Board to the rest of the school board following the board’s straw poll that selected Waitsfield and Fayston elementary schools for closure for the 2028-29 school year.
Dear fellow board members,
We are writing as the two Waitsfield representatives following the November 4 meeting.
First, thank you. Every one of us has put many hours into this decision, and none of us joined this board hoping to close a school. Every school in HUUSD has a vibrant and loving community. Whichever two buildings we close, families will lose something real and palpable.
The homework we were each given was the best tool we had for an incredibly hard decision. It asked each of us to score all six pairings against the same criteria of enrollment and receiving capacity; building condition and capital needs; kitchen and meal operations; wastewater feasibility; and overall fit. It was never free of subjectivity. Individual scores for the same pairing varied widely (Waitsfield + Warren alone ranged from 10 to 22), and each of us brought our own perspective to the numbers. We are not raising that as a problem. That is what happens when 14 people weigh imperfect information in good faith, and it is exactly why we pooled our scores.
Taken together, our scores ranked Waitsfield + Warren as the strongest pairing. It received the highest combined total (248) and was the top choice of half the board. If that had not been the result, we would not be writing this letter. We would be supporting the outcome the data pointed to, as we have asked our own families to do.
What deeply concerns us is what happened next. Last night, several members said they had changed their position and moved to close Waitsfield and Fayston, because of the public comment from Moretown families. We respect those families deeply. Their advocacy shows how much they love their school. But a decision of this size cannot turn on which community is best able to fill the room. If it does, we are no longer asking what is best for every HUUSD student. We are asking who was loudest.
We also heard members say that Moretown “doesn’t have anything else.” We understand that, and we feel for a community that sees its school as its center. But that is not a measure of which configuration gives HUUSD students the best education, and it was not one of the criteria we agreed to score. Even our “overall fit” category asked which configuration “best positions HUUSD over the long term,” not which town has the most to lose. Nearly every town in our district could make some version of that case. If a school’s role in its town is now going to count, it should be named as a criterion and applied to all six pairings equally, not added for one school/town at the final meeting.
For months, we have told Waitsfield parents to trust this board. We told them that the board and administration were making this decision based on data, as much as possible, and on what is best for the entire district, not just for Waitsfield kids or Moretown kids, or Fayston, Warren, Brookside, Crossett Brook, or Harwood, for that matter. If we had known that being the loudest would decide the outcome, would we have urged our families to pack the room? Honestly, we don't know, because we still believe this decision should rest on what is best for the whole district. That is not what happened last night.
If the board is going to give public comment this kind of weight, two more things need to be said.
First, Waitsfield has not yet had its town hall. It is scheduled for this Monday, November 9. The delay came from circumstances that do not reflect our commitment to serving our community, and it means Waitsfield parents have not had the same chance to hear from us and respond that Moretown and Fayston families have had. Therefore, many Waitsfield parents do not know there’s even a possibility their school could be closing.
Second, attendance does not measure love. Many parents cannot rearrange work shifts, childcare, or family obligations to attend a board meeting, and many are not comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. That is an equity issue. If we treat the volume of public comment as a measure of how much a community cares, we will consistently underweight the families with the least flexibility. To assume those families love their school, their district, or their community any less would be a serious mistake.
We ask the board to:
Return to our collective assessment as the foundation for this decision. If any member believes a pairing’s scores should change, let’s hear which criteria changed and why.
Hold the final vote until after the Waitsfield town hall, so that every affected community has been heard on equal terms.
Weigh public comment for what it tells us (new facts, impacts we had not considered), not for how passionate it is.
We are committed to working with each of you to reach a decision the whole district can trust, whatever that decision turns out to be. Students in every one of our towns deserve that.
With respect,
Alexina Cather and JB Weir
Waitsfield representatives to the HUUSD School Board