To The Editor:
I am writing to urge the voters of the HUUSD to vote yes on the budget. The reasons why are very simple:
1. This budget provides the most programming for kids for the least amount of money. This budget offers $700,000-plus a year in savings from our originally projected expenses. These savings are operational so we will continue to save this money each year. They are not one-time savings. Any other budgets we consider would either result in significant tax increases or big program cuts.
2. This budget prioritizes student needs. By bringing the seventh- and eighth-graders from Harwood over to CBMS and the fifth- and sixth-graders from Moretown to CBMS, we are increasing access to programming such as Sustainability and STEM. While there will be some teacher cuts, the students will have more programming rather than less.
3. This budget implements the first stages of the plan the board passed. I believe that this budget puts us on the right path to improve educational opportunities, prioritize students, use our resources more efficiently and consider how we need to adjust to our statewide declining enrollment.
4. This budget creates savings that will offset the cost of a future bond for the high school. Harwood is in desperate need of repairs. We need to invest in our high school as our students and teachers deserve a better learning environment for the high-quality education we offer. We owe it to our taxpayers to save money in our budget so that the high school bond is more affordable.
5. A no vote on this budget will likely mean more teacher cuts and/or less programming. State law tells us that if we do not have a budget in place by June 30 we are obligated to operate at 87 percent of the current budget. That budget would result in extraordinary cuts in teachers and programming. No one wants that. A no vote to protest the merger of the middle schools will only hurt the students and their educational opportunities.
As you make your choices about the budget, please go to the HUUSD website and read the materials on the FY 2021 HUUSD budget development at https://huusd.org/business-office. Also, at the board website, you can find links to board meeting agendas, packets, minutes and videos of our meetings. I would encourage people to look at the original materials on this website where there is no commentary and where the documents are clearly authored. If you have questions on anything, you are welcome to contact me or other board members directly.
Please consider voting yes for this year’s budget.
Alexandra Thomsen
Waterbury representative to HUUSD Board
