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We are getting close..... let's all finish strong
Video Link: Finish Strong Video, May 26, 2020
Be Connected
Be Curious
Be Caring
Be HUMS!
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HUMS SPIRIT WEEK 2020!
Starting on June 1, HUMS will be holding Spirit Week, which will be a celebration of our community featuring daily contests and challenges. During the week of Spirit Week there will be daily meetings where you will have the chance to show off your costume of the day. Fantabulous prizes will be awarded for participating in the Costume Contest and the Daily Challenges, and we will select the HUMS Student with the MOST SPIRIT and give them a special award for participation in the most weekly activities.
Prizes will include food, candy and HU Gear so get ready to show us your SPIRIT!
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| Our HUMS Hardcopy Newspaper 5rd edition is ready for your review. - it is all included Here is the link: HUMS Hard Copy Link 5/26/2020 |
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SUMMER READING
The Harwood Library is thrilled to announce that we will distribute Summer Reading Books!! Use the Harwood Book Catalog to make you selections and email them to gknight@huusd.org
Please understand, there may be multiple requests for the same title. If your choice is unavailable, Genevieve (the librarian) will contact you with alternate choices. Books will be available for pick up on a few days and in a few locations-- to be determined.
Happy Reading!
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HUUSD Budget Update:
The HUUSD Board of Directors is seeking approval by the voters for a 2020-21 School Budget of $39,751,941. This represents a 2.98% increase in total expenditures over last year’s budget, with a reduction in education spending of 0.34%.
An election will be held on June 16th, 2020. Voters are strongly encouraged to request ballots by mail by calling or emailing their Town Clerks. Additionally, in person voting will also be available in each town on June 16th.
The new proposed budget reflects a reduction of $20,401 from the defeated Town Meeting Day budget presented in March. One of the key differences is that it does not include any school reconfigurations or middle school merger. School configurations will remain status quo.
To achieve this, staffing was adjusted to better reflect current student enrollment and some types of discretionary spending such as additional professional development and field trips were frozen for one year.
It can be confusing how a 0.34% decrease in education spending can still result in a 2.9% increase in overall spending. This is largely due to a double digit increase to the cost of health care, previously negotiated pay increases for our employees, and the effect of inflation on almost every component of our budget.
For more information, please join us on Wednesday, May 27th at 6pm via Zoom for our Budget Hearing. Login information as well as other reference materials can be found at huusd.org
HUUSD School Board Meeting - May 13, 2020
The HUUSD school board met remotely on Wednesday evening, May 13 and made several big decisions that we’d like to share with you.
*The Board will present a budget for voter approval on June 16th.
Although there had been some conversation in the VT legislature over the last several weeks that would allow school districts to adopt a default budget without a public vote, it appears that such initiatives have stalled, probably through the summer. The HUUSD Board decided to hold an election, in accordance with the COVID guidelines published by the Secretary of State’s office, on June 16th. We will be strongly encouraging early voting (requesting ballots by mail) and will be sharing more specifics about how to safely access your ballots in the coming weeks.
The Board approved* a budget for FY21 (the coming 2020-21 school year) of $39,772,342 to put before voters. In budget conversations in the last couple weeks, the Board sought to balance the enormous financial pressure caused by COVID with the need to preserve core programming in the schools, and to do so without significant changes to our current service delivery model. This budget results in a lower increase in total expenditures over FY20 than the current statewide average and will allow us to provide essential education opportunities to our district’s students next year. The Board is developing a budget fact sheet and list of frequently asked questions to share in the coming weeks.
*The Board Approved issuing annual letters of employment to all support and licensed teaching staff for the 2020-21 school year. When the first budget vote failed at Town Meeting Day, the district issued Reduction In Force (RIF) notices to all employees, in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Typically these would remain in place until a budget is passed. COVID has slowed the district’s ability to pass a budget even as it has asked more of our staff. Issuing these letters of employment now allows our schools to begin planning for next year -- to bring some level of certainty to these uncertain times.
We encourage you to share your thoughts with the Board via email to the full Board at cen-huusdboard@huusd.org. We also welcome public comments at the beginning of each meeting (but sometimes there is not time to hear from everyone). The Board’s next meeting is Wednesday, May 27th at 6:00 pm online. Please visit https://huusd.org/huusd-board to confirm time and place of meetings and to find all board meeting agendas, packets and minutes.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement Respectfully, The HUUSD Board
For HUUSD updates including
School Board Information
Can be found here: https://huusd.org/
For intradistrict choice information
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The HUUSD Food & Nutrition will have its last delivery on Friday, June 12th.
Please fill the form below if you believe your child will need meals during the summer.
Meals will be prepared by the Barre School District Food Service and distributed by volunteers at the Congregational Church in Waterbury.
Students in need from all our schools will be able to get free meals in this location, not only Waterbury residents.
Meals will be offered in a curbside delivery style. The delivery schedule will be similar to what we have now, 3 days a week (M/W/F). Time is yet to be determined.
More logistics information will be provided by June 12th.
Please fill this form ASAP
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Essential Community Resource River Valley Community Fund short term assistance link: The MRVCF created a short form application in response to a variety of Covid- 19 concerns and challenges we face as a community. In an effort to bridge the gap between layoffs and receipt of unemployment benefits we have created an expedited financial support process. Please click on the following link and select submit when finished entering your information. Rebecca Baruzzi, the program coordinator, will be in contact with you regarding your application.Link: https://forms.gle/QA27oXMFDeRsMFZN9
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| We receive daily updates from the VT Department of Health, which are linked to our district working response plan, found on the HUUSD website. |
