To the Harwood board: Take school closures off the table
May 23, 2025 | By Peter Langella Dear HUUSD Board,
I’m writing this after returning home from Moretown Elementary School’s circus extravaganza in partnership with Wunderle’s Big Top Adventures. It was an electric evening in our quaint gymnasium – standing room only is the phrase we have to describe the crowd, yet that feels like the understatement of the year.
Student circus performance at Moretown Elementary School this week. Photo by Peter Langella
Simply put, our school is thriving. From the preschoolers to the sixth graders, these circus acts provided a lens for those in attendance to view their joy, determination, resourcefulness, teamwork, perseverance, compassion, creativity, and so much more. This is why we live here, I thought, as the fifth- and sixth-graders cheered on the younger kids from their place on the stage. In a world with so much chaos and vitriol, we are incredibly privileged to have this school and this community.
I wish all of you could have been there. I wish our legislators could have been there. Governor Scott and Secretary Saunders as well. It seems too simple to be true, but I honestly think a community like Moretown could change the statewide narrative. We have a model school. Amazing teachers and staff leading multi-age classrooms. Hallways brimming with art. Extraordinary fields, forests, and outdoor learning spaces. A phenomenal onsite afterschool program. New young families moving here all the time (we’re getting an extra kindergarten class next year amidst declining enrollment elsewhere).
Moretown Elementary School is the epicenter of our community. As Katie Grenon said in a recent and excellent commentary, “If [legislators] asked rural folks, this is what they would hear: Retaining our local elementary schools is the most important factor in supporting educational equity.” Add sustaining on top of retaining. We should try to make sure every rural community has a school like Moretown’s, yet each iteration of your Board since its inception has tried to figure out ways to close or consolidate us out of existence.
Research is nearly unanimous that communities that lose schools lose population, have lower property values, lower per capita incomes, a less equal distribution of income, more per capita income from public assistance, and more child poverty. Further data illustrate the adverse effects of school closings on student achievement and social-emotional wellbeing, and more studies still show that longer student commutes for young children have far-reaching negative impacts and actually decrease access to extracurricular activities.
Please don’t head into your summer break with closure and consolidation plans still on the table. Conduct your building studies. Model renovation and innovation costs. But don’t leave these other options hanging over our heads.
You can choose a better path. One that ensures future generations of Moretowners can be the stars of the show right where they belong, in the heart of our community just a few minutes from home.
Thank you,
Peter Langella
Moretown
Peter Langella is an educator, Moretown resident and former member of the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board.