First, a thank you from the School Board to the community for its support of the budget articles on the town meeting day election. Both articles passed by about a twenty-point margin.
Also as a result of the election, the School Board welcomes several new members: Brian Dalla Mura of Duxbury, Marlena Tucker-Fishman of Waterbury, and Jonathan Young of Warren. We also welcomed back three returning, re-elected members, Caitlin Hollister of Waterbury, Theresa Membrino of Fayston and Kristen Rodgers of Moretown. We are grateful to Alex Thomsen of Waterbury and Rosemarie White of Warren for their many years of dedicated service on both the HUUSD and local boards and wish them well as they move on to other things.
The newly composed Board met remotely on Wednesday, March 10th. The meeting began with Board reorganization -- the election of leadership positions for the coming year. Torrey Smith was elected as Chair, Tim Jones as Vice Chair, Theresa Membrino as Finance Officer, Michael Frank as Assistant Finance Officer, Lisa Mason as Recording Secretary, and Christine Sullivan as the HUUSD Statewide Health Insurance Voting Delegate. School administrators were designated as Truancy Officers.
The Board was updated on the candidate search for the Thatcher Brook Primary School co-principals, and unanimously confirmed the appointment of Sarah Schoolcraft and Chris Neville. We would like to congratulate Sarah and welcome Chris to our district.
The Board approved a motion for the Director of Finance to draft an RFP for a search firm to facilitate the hiring process for our next Superintendent, who will begin in July 2022. The firm will help the Board, school staff, and community define the qualities and skills it is looking for in its next Superintendent and find qualified candidates for the position.
The Board heard two reports, first from the Harwood Union Educators Association (HUEA) regarding teacher RIFs and the reduction of a middle school team at HUMS and then from the Superintendent, centered around the first round of teacher/staff vaccinations that week, which included over 90% of our staff.
The Board discussed and approved a motion to rescind its February 17th decision to reduce a team at HUMS next year. This decision reinstates the two teams, or eight core teachers, serving HUMS.
The Board entered two executive sessions at the end of the evening. The first, which lasted for about 20 minutes, was to review legal advice. The second, pertaining to an employee disciplinary matter, lasted about 5 minutes, and was requested to achieve clarity on the subject of the matter. No action was taken after either session, and further discussion and action is expected to take place at a future meeting.
The next regular Board meeting will be March 24th, at 6:00PM. Remote meetings have made it easier than ever to participate in or view School Board meetings, and we hope you will consider joining us. You can also email the board with your thoughts at [email protected].
-- To participate live through Zoom, simply click on this link at the meeting’s start time: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/386460007#success
-- To view either live or after-the-fact on YouTube, use this link: tinyurl.com/huwebapp-youtube-live
-- To view on Mad River Television, use this link: www.mrvtv.com
Thank you for continued support,
The HUUSD Board