Move to Consolidate by BOE

Region 12 consolidation 
Fall vote OK'd on new elementary school 
BY RICK HARRISON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN 

Members of the Region 12 Board of Education debate what configuration option to present to voters in a referendum at Shepaug Valley High School in Washington, Conn. Rick Harrison Republican-American

WASHINGTON, Conn. — The Region 12 Board of Education will hold a referendum in the fall proposing the construction of a new consolidated elementary school.

With four board members abstaining, the board voted 5-2 Monday to ask voters to approve a plan to build a new pre-K-5 school on the current campus of Shepaug Valley High School in Washington, Conn., while closing Washington Primary School, Burnham Elementary School in Bridgewater and Booth Free School in Roxbury. In addition, the $49 million plan calls for repairing the current middle and high school.

The board's decision followed a recommendation of the first selectmen and chairmen of the boards of finance in all three towns, who didn't necessarily all support the plan but felt it was the best one to bring to voters first.