Happy New Year!!!

Hello Moretown families!

I am still in wonder about the amazing circus show we had before the break! A huge shout out to the PTO who made it all possible!  We are so lucky here at Moretown to have such and involved and hard working crew on our PTO.  They work so hard to bring us amazing things like the circus, and the outdoor sports program.

Speaking of the outdoor sports program, the deadline for packets was Dec 20.  Please email me directly if you have questions or concerns.

In preparation for field trips and other wonderful things this summer, it is of utmost importance that all families complete the powerschool registration process.  I know many of you have done this, but we still have quite a few families that have not completed this yet.  All returning students (students who attended Moretown last year) need to have an updated registration.  This allows us to have the most up-to-date information (phone numbers, emergency contacts, releases).  This information is essential, especially in the case of any sort of emergency.  Loretta has reached out to folks, and is available to help with the process if you are not sure where to begin.

We are excited to be back at it in the new year!

More Joy, More Community, More Kindness.  Moretown  <3 p="">

School Board Updates

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HUUSD Board Meeting Recap 12/18

Dear members of our six town community,

At our last meeting on December 18, 2019, of the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board: 

• David Epstein of Truex Cullins and Bert Delabruere of ReArch gave a presentation on the District Bond including the scope of work, priority levels, projected costs, and  schedule. This presentation addressed all elements of our district PreK-12 plan, but was primarily focused on the work at Harwood Union High School where the bulk of the work will occur both to address deferred maintenance and facilities upgrades and enhancements. A June 2020, bond vote is planned.
• Michelle Baker, Director of Finance & Operations, gave a presentation and answered board member questions on updates on the FY21 Budget. She presented a preliminary projected equalized homestead tax rate of $1.70. Her report, and all FY21 budget documents, can be found at https://huusd.org/business-office under “FY21 Budget Development.”

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The Board took action on the items below:

Approved the following items as pSart of the consent agenda: Approve: Minutes of 12/11/19 Accept: Voucher 1139 for $256,801.20, Approve: $30,294.07 proposal from Cutting Edge Contracting for Waitsfield Elementary School cabinets to be funded from the Maintenance Reserve Fund. 

1. Approved a motion directing board leadership to develop a timeline that would bring a district-wide bond for consideration to voters in June 2020.
2. Affirmed its intentions to pursue a bond that includes Harwood Union High School’s priority 1 and priority 2 renovations as well as programmatic additions.
3. Approved a motion to direct the project team to develop architectural programming recommendations which account for the D(c) scenario for consideration according to the bond timeline that the leadership team develops. The recommendations will include very rough cost estimates as well as details about any changes/improvements/renovations being considered but will not include design information.
4. Approved a motion directing the administration to draft an RFP for a bond-related communications consultant by January 15, for board review.
5. Approved a motion to take the full surplus and put it in maintenance reserve.
6. Approved a motion to direct admin team to prepare a budget that limits per pupil expenditure increase to 2.2% over that of FY 2019 per the tax commissioner’s recommendation passed. This would limit FY 2021 PPE to $18,353 and necessitate an overall expenditure reduction of ($984,000) from what is currently proposed in the FY 2021 budget.

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7. Approved a motion to appoint Kristen and Christine to the negotiations teams.

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Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 8, at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union School library. Please visit https://huusd.org/huusd-board to confirm time and place of meetings. 

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You’ll also find all board and committee agendas, packets and minutes, and the link to board meeting videos. The direct link to watch this and other recent meetings is: https://mrvtv.com/category/school-board-meetings/. An archive of older meetings can be found here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=Harwood+Unified+Union+School+Board&sort=-date 

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Thank you for your continued support and engagement.

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Respectfully,

The HUUSD Board

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