HARDWICK – A survey about the state’s Act 73 redistricting conducted by members of Hardwick’s school boards last month distributed to those attending an October 29 in-person gathering at the Jeudevine Library and on-line was filled out by 84 people. Of those responding, 98.8% felt it was moderately, very or extremely important to preserve an elementary school in Hardwick with 94.8% feeling the same about a high school.
survey screen capture
Strengthening academic opportunities was seen as the highest overall priority with an average of 3.60 out of four and financial savings for taxpayers the lowest, at 2.91. Between those extremes, preserving an elementary school (3.65), followed by preserving a high school (3.5) ranked second and third. Providing career and technical education (3.29) ranked fourth, followed by strengthening special education (3.24), growing strong community partnerships (3.12), minimizing travel distances (3.11) and strengthening sports and extracurricular activities (2.99).
Sixty respondents felt any mergers should be with towns in the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU), with 7 favoring Danville and Lamoille, then 5 picking Cabot and others with 3 or below.
On the other hand, 10 respondents would not like to merge with St. Johnsbury, 9 not with Lamoille then 5 not with Stowe, 4 not with Lyndon Institute and others below 2.
A wide range of additional comments generally expressed uncertainty about the redistricting process, whether it is prioritizing student outcomes and how OSSU is responding. “What is the vision of the current OSSU board and boards within OSSU board for this? It seems [to be] wait-and-see. Where and how is our leadership acting on behalf of our students, staff, and schools?” wrote one respondent.
“Closing schools should not be on the table, and it will not save money long term,” said another.
Expressing a common complaint about students traveling to distant schools, one person wrote, “My kids already spend over 30 minutes on a bus when school is less than a 10 minute drive. How is redistricting going to deal with the landscape of Vermont and how little sunshine students already get to enjoy on a school day?”
Another wrote, “I’m very concerned about the potential for Hardwick area school closures in the future and what that would mean for transportation of our students. I’m also very concerned about the potential size of schools if the redistricting process is ultimately approved. It may be true that there would be more opportunities for students than there are currently (for example, a football team at Hazen), but there would be enough students competing for a spot in those opportunities that any one student’s chances of making the cut would be low. More opportunity doesn’t necessarily mean more access.”
Making the point that decision making would best be kept close to home, another respondent wrote, “I have faith in our local boards to manage costs better than arbitrary decisions made at the state level. . . If state leadership was serious about saving costs they would prioritize health insurance costs as they are what make it more expensive to staff schools.”
“Our preschool and kindergarten should be brought back to the elementary school!” wrote another.
See other comments and the full survey results that are being presented to the school boards at bit.ly/HardwickSurvey
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
