Starting the Discussion on School Consolidation
- June 24, 2026
- Shannon Wisdom
- 2 Minute Read
To the Harwood Community,
Last Monday, the Building Use and Visioning Committee of the HUUSD School Board met and discussed creating a five-year plan for our school district. The focus was on the difficult topic of school consolidation within our district. We're sending out this recap to emphasize that:
- All discussions so far are preliminary.
- The full School Board will take up this topic starting in the fall.
- This is a multi-year process.
- Public input is welcomed and necessary at every step of the process.
We guarantee that there will be plenty of time for discussion. We have come to the point where the rubber meets the road. We are facing budget increases in the 27-28 school year because of our Governor's choices, and this will hurt our students' education beyond what we can allow.
We feel strongly that having this discussion is crucial for the School Board. The combination of declining student enrollment and rising school budgets due to the usual suspects (huge increases in health care costs, special education costs, mental health costs, and transportation/utility costs) have increased our property taxes to the point that we fear the Legislature in future legislative sessions will impose consolidation of schools and districts against our will. It’s our responsibility to make sure district school consolidation is a district decision. The only way to ensure this is to start working on this difficult and complex issue now.
Governor Phil Scott recently told school districts to "hit the ground running" as they begin the work required under Vermont's new education transformation law. We take that challenge seriously. By starting these conversations early, we can ensure that any future changes are shaped through local discussion, careful analysis, and community input rather than being rushed by potential external timelines or circumstances.
You can watch a recording of the full meeting at . We welcome all comments now and throughout this long process.
Sincerely,
Ashley Woods
HUUSD School Board chair
[email protected]
Cindy Senning
HUUSD School Board vice chair
[email protected]