Woods & Senning: ‘Our people are deeply skeptical’ of school redistricting plans
November 14, 2025 | By Ashley Woods and Cindy Senning Editor’s Note: On Monday, Nov. 10, Harwood Unified Union School District School Board Chair Ashley Woods delivered the following remarks to the state School District Redistricting Task Force, charged with reconfiguring Vermont’s school districts. These comments relied on a community survey in the Harwood school district. See more reporting on the task force and Harwood’s survey in the Education section.
Our school board sent out a redistricting survey to our six towns. Out of approximately 11,500 residents, we quickly received 720 responses, equaling over 6% of our population. The main takeaway is that our people are deeply skeptical that consolidation will result in either improved education or significant cost savings. Many of our residents are worried about the future of our schools and, frankly, the survival of what makes our state and our schools unique.
Residents tell us that funding and taxation dominate the public concern. Roughly 40% of survey takers focused on how proposed redistricting changes would be financed. Particularly state versus local contributions. They asked for clear, accessible explanations of cost impacts, many emphasizing fairness and protections for senior citizens and families on fixed incomes. They worry about long travel times for kids, larger class sizes, and loss of their community hearts.
To many, it feels like our democratic system will vanish here in Vermont if we let go of local control of our schools.
If the legislature wants to get the people of Vermont on board, they are going to have to do more than just talk about that savings. Our survey shows that overall, our communities are asking decision-makers for clarity, transparency and fairness in funding decisions. They don’t just want to hear that it will work; they want to SEE that it will work. To that end . . .
We respectfully ask that the task force and legislative committees that will ultimately make these choices take the following suggestions:
1. Send as one of your proposed maps a status-quo map with the message that our citizens want to hear realistic solutions on the true cost drivers, particularly health care, unfunded mandates, and school upkeep, before we decide to make a drastic change.
2 Publish a FAQ and visual summary showing all funding sources, allocations, and tax impacts.
3. Protect special education programs and outline safeguards for vulnerable Vermonters.
4. Create transparent cost tables for proposed facility work and long-term maintenance on our school buildings
5. Consider phased and cost-efficient approaches before large-scale spending ideas.
6. Conduct open Q&A sessions with the public and use community-friendly language.
Ashley Woods of Warren and Cindy Senning of Duxbury are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Harwood school board.