Hartland
“The health and well-being of our students and families is our No. 1 goal,” said Christine Bourne, who is in her second year as principal at the K-8 Hartland Elementary School.
In September, Bourne, along with Town Manager Dave Ormiston and Recreation Director John Leonard, were part of a panel discussion at a community breakfast attended by about 60 people. Another discussion is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Damon Hall.
Ormiston said the purpose of the discussion was to make the community aware of the issues an increasing number of residents are facing. In particular, he cited properties with structures that could be deemed as unsafe or, at the very least, unhealthy.
“It is enabling an unhealthy way of living, and we don’t have a mechanism to address it,” Ormiston said, noting that Hartland does not have zoning regulations.
Circumstances vary from property to property, but the core problem is inadequate housing, which brings with it a host of other issues, he said. Specifically, Ormiston said, there are a number of “unlanded” mobile homes that have been allowed to be stationed on parcels by the property’s owners. In some instances, the mobile home’s residents are family members or friends of the property owner, he said.
“We don’t see that as good for their long-term health,” Ormiston said. “It is not all bad, but there is a wellness component to this. So how do we promote healthier living?”
The town does have a volunteer health officer, and Ormiston acknowledged he needs to become more “proactive in that arena,” but added that the officer’s primary focus is on rental units.
“The health officer does have statutory authority (for enforcement), but that only goes so far,” Ormiston said. “Some situations can be difficult to deal with. Recently, we had instances of 30 to 40 bags of trash outside of a home.”
Asked whether this is something entirely new in Hartland, Ormiston, who has been town manager for less than two years, said it is not new, but that there has been an increase in these situations over the last 10 years.
“I’m seeing listers come in with an increase in the number of ‘unlanded’ homes,” he said.
In an interview on Friday, Bourne, the elementary school principal, said school officials have taken steps to address some of the socioeconomic challenges among the student population, where there has been an increase in the number of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. These include additional food options such as “breakfast after the bell,” nutritious snacks of fruits and vegetables, and “food backpacks” that some students go home with on Friday.
“We try to put in place things to ensure kids are not hungry,” Bourne said.
Additional staff helps with some of the social and emotional issues students may be dealing with when they arrive at school.
“There is food and social and emotional challenges that need to be addressed and when we see them, we attempt to put solutions in place,” Bourne said. “This is not strictly a Hartland problem or even a Vermont problem. It is throughout the region.”
The summary of the discussion in September was that the school district is seeing more students who are both struggling to get their basic needs met and who lack social and emotional skills, which often correspond to behavioral problems.
Ormiston said he sees a correlation between student circumstances and the housing concerns he hopes the town will recognize and begin to address.
Melanie Sheehan, chairwoman of the Mount Ascutney Prevention Partnership, is facilitating the community discussions. Both Sheehan and Ormiston said a lot of residents had no idea of the extent of the problem.
“We want to increase awareness of the issue and how it is impacting the community,” Sheehan said. “The discussions are meant to engage the community and come up with a community response and support for solutions.”
“What the next step is, I’m not sure,” Ormiston said. “We need to do better for these families, but we can’t take the next step if we pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
