TruexCullins presented a 45-page architectural report detailing $118,357,780 in district-wide repairs and upgrades needed in the Harwood Unified Union School District. That represents $45M in work needed at the five elementary schools in the district and another $73 for Harwood.
The board’s building use and facilities committee discussed the report with TruexCullins staff at a September 30 meeting and asked the architects to take that new information and use it to update some of the school district reconfiguration scenarios presented last spring.
Those scenarios envisioned consolidating elementary schools with most calling for closing Moretown and Fayston schools and two calling for closing Warren Elementary School and Brookside Primary School in Waterbury. To close any elementary schools will mean upgrading/expanding and remodeling the remaining district elementary schools to accommodate more students.
After receiving the proposed reconfiguration scenarios, the board halted that initial TruexCullins work ($48,500) and tasked the architects with providing a detailed analysis of the condition of each school for an additional $110,000.
A similar detailed assessment was done several years ago for Harwood Union Middle and High Schools, leading to a plan to bring a $60 to $90 million bond to voters. That plan was scrapped in 2024 when voters twice rejected the school budget on Town Meeting Day.
Given the need for upgrades on the Harwood campus as well as the need for repairing and upgrading the district’s five elementary schools, the board is exploring how to proceed against the backdrop of Act 73. Act 73 is legislation from the year’s legislative session that has created a task force to come up with a plan to reduce Vermont’s 119 school districts into 10-25 larger districts, each with 4,000-8,000 students. The Legislature will take up the issue next session with a plan to have new configurations in place for the 2028-2029 school year.
HUUSD enrollment is about 1,735 currently, but the district’s official count takes place early this month.
Harwood’s work to address the future of its buildings while the state works on a plan for 2028-2029 is taking place while the 18 towns in the Central Vermont Career Center are facing a $149M bond vote on November 4. If that bond passes a new 167,000-square-foot career center will be built on 27 acres in Graniteville/Barre.
The Harwood board next meets on October 8 and will meet on October 22 to discuss updated district scenarios with TruexCullins.
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