Suggests Region 12 consider its alternatives

Published 12:19 pm, Wednesday, March 26, 2014

To the Editor:

I have friends and acquaintances on both sides of the issue of Region 12 elementary school consolidation. These are people I care for and respect.

Like many of them, I am a parent who wants the best education for my children. And I believe we need to work together to create solutions to our region's issues that work best for a majority of residents for our three towns.

As a taxpayer, I believe spending $32.6 million plus interest to build a new school to house fewer than the current 304 pre-K to grade 5 students is an expense we cannot afford.

The Region 12 analysis of savings in the recent mailing appears to show only the savings generated by a reduction in staff and elimination of utilities/maintenance for the existing schools.

It does not show the full cost of the bond, nor the expense for the three towns to dispose of or repurpose their existing schools, nor increased transportation expenses.

I agree with proponents of consolidation that there could be educational benefits to consolidating our elementary classes. I believe Jerry Ronan's suggestion (Spectrum, March 21) of having Region 12 students split among Booth Free for grades pre-K to 2, Burnham for grades 3-5 and Shepaug for grades 6-12 would be a viable option allowing the region to accomplish the goals of reducing expenses and improving education with a much lower financial cost than building a new school.

And, as much as I love Shepaug, I agree with Ed Wainwright's suggestion, if the goals are to reduce per-student costs and improve education, to close Shepaug, which has both higher per-student costs and lower standardized test scores.

That would be a more sensible plan than closing elementary schools consistently ranked as some of the best in the state

Other options such as the K-2, 3-5 plan for Booth and Burnham and/or offering to accept New Milford students to fill classes in Burnham on a tuition basis are viable options that would require little planning and could result in an immediate reduction in Region 12's per-student cost.

My understanding is Region 12 has been arguing about consolidation almost as long as Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington have been a region.

Like others, I thought the 1047-C state Supreme Court ruling would encourage the Region 12 school board to consider alternate options to improve education and reduce costs.

I am troubled to see the issue of consolidation is continuing to cause rancor between our neighboring communities.

I would like to see the residents of all three towns and the Region 12 School Board accept the results of the upcoming referendum, whatever they might be, and work together to continue to educate our children with love and support.

I encourage all residents of Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington to educate themselves on the upcoming referendum issue and to make the commitment to vote April 29.

Teresa Southard

Bridgewater

BOE Report Misses the Mark

Published:

Saturday, March 22, 2014 7:07 AM EDT

To the Editor:

As a Roxbury resident, skeptical of the Region 12 BOE’s proposal to amend our regional plan and close our hometown elementary schools, I recently obtained a copy of Region 12 Report on the Proposed Amendment to the Regionalization Plan from our town clerk’s office.


Connecticut Statute 10-47c requires that “The regional BOE shall prepare a report including the question to be presented, file a copy with the Commissioner of Education and the clerk of each member town, and make copies of such report available to the public.”


While this report filed by the Region 12 BOE may be in compliance with the letter of the law, it misses the mark in many ways.


The purpose of the report should be to provide the people of Region 12 with the information necessary to cast a vote, insuring an informed electorate. Rather than preparing such a report, the Region 12 BOE decided to recycle their 2012 Strategic Plan and paste its referendum question within it.


The report contains no specific data relevant to the referendum question; i.e. enrollment projections, projected class sizes, transportation costs, length of bus rides, school start/end times, transportation costs, staffing costs or building by building efficiency data.


In deference to the original authors of the report (a dedicated group of citizens and educators from the region), they probably did not anticipate that their report would be
“bootlegged” and presented as the Region 12 referendum report.


At the March 13 board meeting, Superintendent Cosentino stated that it was ultimately her decision to submit the above mentioned report, and that the inclusion of any specific data would have been “redundant,” as it was already available on the Region 12 BOE website.


Apparently, insuring a well informed electorate is not on Dr. Cosentino’s “to do’ list.


Paul Lang
Roxbury

Advocates for 'tuitioning out' in Region 12

Published 12:08 am, Wednesday, March 19, 2014

To the Editor:

A study of the tuition-out option for Shepaug students was sent Feb. 24 to the Region 12 Board of Education, the superintendent of schools for Region 12 and the selectmen and Boards of Finance in each towns. This study was conducted by two citizens of Bridgewater and the transmittal letter was signed by 16 residents of the region, including three former selectmen and five former Board of Education members.

Keep in mind the region's goal is to solve the problems of rising costs, declining enrollment and inefficient facilities.

This study outlines the benefits of the tuition-out option, which has not been evaluated by the region, and the transmittal letter requests a detailed study be done in collaboration with the school district and the boards of finance.

After the consolidated school referendum in April fails, the school board should focus on the tuition-out alternative.

This study projects an annual savings of $7,300 per Shepaug student by sending all 471 students on a tuition basis to the New Milford school district.

This is an annual savings of $3.4 million (high school -- $2.1 million and middle middle school -- $1.3 million) using the 2013-14 Shepaug student count.

The study also lists the high school tuition charges of neighboring school districts (i.e., Brookfield, $13,929; Litchfield, $11,133; New Milford, $11,787, and Region 15, $11,525).

The study lists advanced placement courses offered by local area school districts. Brookfield offers 21 AP courses and has been on the AP honor roll for the last two years. New Milford offers 18 AP courses and was on the AP honor roll last year.

Shepaug offers 10 AP courses.

In Region 12 material promoting consolidation, the following operating costs are outlined:

The annual operating cost for the current elementary schools is $6.63 million.

The annual operating cost for the proposed consolidated school is $4.94 Million.

Region 12 predicts an annual operating savings of $1.7 million.

This saving is largely achieved by cutting the elementary staffing in half.

Clearly an annual tuition-out projected savings of $3.4 million requires a complete study.

Certainly the Shepaug building is the least efficient in region. It was built to house 1,200 students and the demographers' latest forecast predicts it will house less than 300 students in 10 years.

It is equally clear our older students can benefit from attending larger school districts with more robust course offerings.

There is also more diversity in larger school districts and there is a wider variety of athletics programs.

As Region 12 shrinks, it will never be able to compete with larger neighboring school districts.

We should not handicap our older students as the school district shrinks in the future.

The study is on website http://concernedcitizensofbridgewater.com/ 

Click on Ed's Report

Ed Wainwright

Bridgewater

Region 12 board should reconsider consolidation plan

Thursday, March 20, 2014

As a former Roxbury member of the Region 12 Board of Education, the challenge of educating fewer kids, and the seeming potential for significant tax savings, tempted me to think the time to build a new consolidated elementary school may have come.

However, the proposal being brought to an April 29 referendum projects that consolidation will reduce Region 12's budget by 4 percent. Since this budget accounts for about 75 percent of the town budgets, this may mean a tax break of 3 percent. For me, that amounts to $3 per week. These schools provide among the best elementary educations in Connecticut, as well as being centers of our communities. I don't want to risk that excellence and permanently alter the character of my town to save pocket change. 

Perhaps the bigger question is whether we should be spending the $8 million that is being proposed to limp along in the Shepaug Middle/High School building. That building's population is projected to decline from 470 students now to 282 in 2023.
The building is designed for four times that many students. The high-school population is projected to be about 40 per graduating class in 2023. Is it even possible to offer rich, diverse educational and athletic opportunities in so small a high school?

Clearly, broader thinking is needed here, and the current plan doesn't provide it. Because of theses considerations, I can't vote for the proposed change to the regionalization plan or the bond issue.

Andy Engel
Roxbury 

Time for an alternate solution for Region 12

Published 5:44 pm, Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Region 12 Board of Education has decided to recommend a consolidated PK-12 school system with all students located on one campus. It would be foolish for the parents in the three towns to allow the younger children (PK-5) to be on the same campus as the middle/high school. The building and repair cost of $40 million is too expensive when the enrollment will drop from a high of 1,169 in 2003 to the 461 projected for 2023.

This proposal should be unacceptable to the taxpayers mainly because of the $40 million (plus interest) cost and declining enrollment.

There are other alternatives. Here's one without spending millions.

Primary, (pre-k-2), at Booth in Roxbury.

Intermediate, (grades 3-5), at Burnham in Bridgewater.

Middle School, (grades 6-8), at Shepaug in Washington

High School, (grades 9-12), at Shepaug in Washington

Washington would have 50 percent of the grades with Roxbury at 29 percent and Bridgewater at 21 percent. That is a realistic setup.

The benefits of having the early grade students together, but separate from the older students, are numerous for the district. Each school would have all students for that grade.

Downsizing savings would exceed $1.5 million and could start next year.

Washington grades go from 14 to 7 (-50 percent), Roxbury from 6 to 4 (-34 percent) and Bridgewater from 6 to 3 (-50 percent).

The current Region 12 Plan states that: Each town will have K-5 and there will be a school in each town.

That plan could be changed to say: Each town will have a school of at least three grades.

That compromise could pass a 1047-C regional vote and give the district more flexibility. A change to the plan will require a favorable vote in "each" town.

The work on the Long Range Committee has been a wasted effort when they again try a consolidated PK-5. Spending $142,000 to propose another consolidation without the stateSupreme Court mandated 1047c vote was a mistake.

Common sense calls for a "NO" vote for both questions on April 29.

Gerald J. Ronan

Bridgewater

A Plan for All ! !

By Carolan Dwyer, Co-Chair SOS Group (Hearing Meeting March 13, 2014)

We have to do something. We hear that phrase time and time again. Yes, we 
do have to do something, but it has to be the right thing, the balanced thing, 
the smart thing. A real solution leaves a school in each town. A real solution 
doesn’t spend 40-50 million dollars when we cannot be certain we have a 
viable region in 5 years. A real solution doesn’t ask towns to bear larger debt 
loads than they have ever bonded in an uncertain time. 

A real solution doesn’t dismiss people’s valid concerns regarding their taxes,
home values, and student’s safety and security. Do the research. After this 
fails, and it will, who is ready to solve problems creatively? If we cannot do 
that, then the death spiral this region is currently on will continue and we can 
all start looking into options of disbanding. If the student numbers continue 
at this rate, let’s not kid ourselves, we will be having a very different 
conversation in the near future. When times are uncertain, wise people use 
the assets that they have, they don’t create new debts and keep the old. ! !

We have a solution, one that here, over a year ago, gained more votes than 
the number of attendees here this evening. It leaves a school in every town, 
it uses the assets we currently own, it solves small class sizes and it takes 
into account the needs of all three towns, not just the largest. That solution 
is dubbed the K-2, 3-5 solution.

It, in essence, merges the younger grades at one school and the older grades 
at another. This solution allows for significant staff savings now not in the 
far off distant and uncertain future. And, it has flexibility as well. Bridgewater’s 
intent is to always have a school in our town. Always. There is an important 
symbiotic relationship between a small town and its school—one that has 
huge socio-economic impacts if that is changed. Could WPS fold into this 
scenario? Or, could WPS move to the SVS campus? Perhaps. If it is too far 
to travel for some students, which we know all to well, then do we need to 
collaborate to send to other schools like Warren? ! !

Now, how can we turn this around? While others have been working to 
forward their own agenda for over a year, we have been working to change
the equation. More students means more viability. More students means 
homes are filled and sold. More students means towns are healthier and 
more balanced. ! !

We have met with realtors and created ambassador lists of residents who 
have offered their time to answer questions about our community. We 
continue to promote our school through press releases. As a Town, we are 
working on a town showcase video.

We are working to centralize our EMS/Fire and Police into a hub next to the 
school. We asked over a year ago to have tuition rates lowered so as to fill 
empty spots. We are starting an After Care Pilot program in Bridgewater, 
something families tell us they need.

We are thrilled that, per our request, teachers now can send their own 
children to the Region. We know of families that want to move here but will 
not amidst the chaos. And, who can blame them? We need to put this to bed. 
We need to see positive headlines in the paper that help bring people into 
these communities instead of a constant quest in a flawed effort that will fail 
again and again. If we cannot do that, then we need to move on and allow 
these communities to prosper without this constant threat of upheaval. ! !!!

Straight Talk: The Cost for Region 12’s Consolidated Elementary School

By Julie Stuart, Co-Chair SOS Group (Hearing Meeting March 13, 2014)

At the Region 12 hearing regarding the proposed consolidated elementary school there were bankers, lawyers, and architects all of whom have a lot to gain from the construction of a new consolidated school and very little to gain if voters say no. 

They, along with our Region 12 Administration and those representing them, told the public that it will save taxpayers money to bond $35M to pay for the new school and repairs to the Middle/High School plus another $15M in interest. People wondered how it would be possible take on $50M of new debt and at the same time, lower our taxes! 

Here is the straight talk. The vast majority of the alleged “savings” are based on staff reductions – cutting our teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators etc. These proposed cuts are based on predictions by Dr. Prowda, who the Region hired to predict the region’s future student enrollment out to year 2023. His latest report is available on the Region 12 website. 

Here is a quote from Dr. Prowda’s report summary: “This remains a difficult time to predict future enrollment…It is critical to remember that a projection is just a moving forward of recent trends… This projection should be used as a starting point for local planning.” 

The Region 12 Administration is not using these projections as a starting point, they are hanging their hat on them! Dr. Prowda predicts that the number of elementary students in 2023 will drop nearly 50% to 221 students. Thus, the administration can cut loads of teachers and staff and claim this will result in $79M in savings. 

Enrollment numbers tend to be cyclical over time – they go up and go down. If this happens, there will be no $79M in staff savings to justify this $50M expenditure! 

More importantly, in order for the Region 12 administration to show such extreme savings, it has compared the consolidated configuration to the current three home town schools without any staff reductions through 2023. 

Just last Tuesday night Dr. Cosentino presented her budget for next year and showed a reduction of a kindergarten teacher at Burnham as her plan is to combine this small class with Booths, therefore eliminating a teacher. Makes sense – but wait the $79M in savings assumes 2 teachers in these classes (not 1) every year forward, thus 
making the pitch for consolidation look all the better. 

In fact, all the projected savings for consolidation are based on assumptions that the region doesn’t implement any other remedies for the next 30 years! None! Not one other solution, not one plan to bring in more students, not one plan to combine classes between schools, nothing at all! This simply is not reality! When this vote fails, new cost savings and enrollment solutions that meet the needs of all the towns must be considered! 

In addition, repairs to the Middle High School only address the next 5 years. As a member of the Long Range Planning Committee, I heard time and time again from Board of Ed members and Administration that the Shepaug Middle High was “crumbling under our feet”. Significant improvements and repairs must be done in years 5-25. This will involve more bonds, more debt, more cost to taxpayers. 

Also each town will be saddled with the cost of the existing elementary school buildings. Whether the buildings are repurposed or razed, there will be costs associated that will be the responsibility of the taxpayers. In addition, studies confirm what we all suspect, that a town without a school will see a drop in real estate values. 

For Roxbury and Bridgewater, who would be the first two towns in Connecticut without a school, this is a serious and costly implication. 

In summary, this new consolidated school will raise taxes. The cost savings projections are false and are based on assumptions that no one in this region should accept. Who wins in this scenario: the bankers, the architects, the builders… who loses: the students, the teachers, the taxpayers and the communities left without their high performing schools.

Letter to Editor - Opposes Elementary School on Shepaug Campus

Published:

Saturday, March 15, 2014 7:07 AM EDT

To the Editor:
Someday the Superintendent of Schools will be retired, and she will realize how unreasonable school expenses will impact her cost of living.


Many homeowners in Roxbury and Bridgewater are retired or weekend homeowners. If the additional expenses are incurred for the new school, this will curb the lifestyles in these towns for the retirees and families.


Children are attending school each day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to learn and Bridgewater and Roxbury do use their school gyms for town events. Hence, these schools need to exist.


Bridgewater and Roxbury’s bus time to a regional elementary school in the Shepaug School Campus would be greatly increased. In fact, long unnecessary bus rides would hinder their academic achievement and impact the environment.


The parents would also be affected because they would have longer driving times to attend events and after-school activities.


When we bought our house in 1961, Roxbury 7th and 8th grades shared a room in Booth Free School and the principal taught the class.


If Washington needs a new grade school, the town should build one and have the Washington taxpayers pay for it.


To summarize, constructing a three-town regional elementary school is unnecessary due to the fact that these towns are mostly comprised of retired individuals and weekend homeowners.


To increase driving distance to get the children to these schools would be harmful to the environment and also would make very long days for these children. The retired homeowners would have to sacrifice some of their needs in order to support the additional tax expenses.


Again, if a school is needed in a particular town, that town should pay for that school.
Barbara Hunicke
Roxbury

 

Region 12 Eyeing Further Consolidation

By Gayla Cawley
Special to The Litchfield County Times

The Region 12 School District has had a consolidated middle/high school on the Shepaug campus in Washington since the mid-1970s. If a future referendum passes in Washington, Bridgewater and Roxbury, there would be a consolidated pre-K through 5 school on that campus as well.

Supporters of the proposed plan, which is set at a cost of $40,879,191—$32,597,202 for the cost of the new building and a little over $8.28 million for construction costs to the existing middle/high school building—say that this is the most cost efficient solution to an area that continues to see declining enrollment to the point where more seats in the classrooms are empty than filled. 

Region 12 Superintendent Pat Cosentino said some classrooms only have seven or eight students, while a kindergarten class for one of the schools—Burnham School in Bridgewater—only has four students enrolled for next year. She continued that such small class sizes do not provide a positive social experience for kids.

“I am really proud of the work that Region 12 has done on this issue,” Cosentino said. “It has been going on since the spring of 2011 and is the best solution for the rising cost, declining enrollment and decreasing population.”

After state aid of approximately $5 million is added to the project if it passes, Cosentino said taxpayers would only be responsible for $35.15 million. By town, Bridgewater would be responsible for 22 percent of that cost, Roxbury would pay 32.7 percent of it and Washington would cough up just over 45 percent of the cost at $7.72 million, $11.5 million and $15.94 million respectively. The percentage each town is responsible for is decided by how many students they would have enrolled at the school—with a total enrollment of 774 students, Bridgewater has 170 students, Roxbury has 253 and Washington has the bulk of students at 351 kids.

What has been voiced at previous public hearings is the discomfort of residents with having the question on the referendum being combined—the middle/high school repairs and new pre K through 5 school having to be passed together for either to pass. 

Roxbury’s First Selectman Barbara Henry echoed residents’ concerns that perhaps the two should be kept as separate questions rather than as one single yes/no question. She said that she doesn’t know how the vote would go down in Roxbury but that she knows Bridgewater has said they will vote down the plan for a new consolidated elementary school. Each of the three towns has to approve the consolidation by a plurality of 50 percent plus one so one town’s dissension would vote down the entire plan.

“We cannot sustain what we are doing today financially,” Henry said. “Something’s gotta give—if it’s not at the elementary level, than it has to be at the high school level. If this gets voted down, all of the options have to come back to the table.”

Henry said those options might be moving all of the students off of the Shepaug campus—moving the sixth grade back to each of the town’s elementary schools, moving the seventh and eighth grade at the high school to Washington Primary School and vouchering out the high school students to high schools in surrounding schools that could stand to see an increase in their own enrollment.

Despite strong opposition in one of the three towns, Cosentino remains hopeful.
“I am confident and hopeful that when people see all of the information that it will pass in all three towns,” Cosentino said. “We have a building on the campus. It doesn’t interfere with any of our athletic fields. It has the ability to be expanded. I’m very proud of it.”

A date has yet to be set for the referendum but a previous prediction by Cosentino was around the first week of April. If the referendum passes, the consolidated elementary school would open in August 2017 and construction on the middle/high school would begin this summer.-

Referendum Questions for April 29th and More

Region 12 to vote April 29

Approval sought for school bonding 
BY JACK CORAGGIO REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN 

This design is the leading favorite as the Region 12 Board of Education debates building a consolidated primary school in Washington. A referendum in Washington, Roxbury and Bridgewater will be held April 29. Contributed Browse for Republican American Reprints

WASHINGTON, Conn. — Concerning the long-awaited new school referendum, the Region 12 Board of Education has decided on a Tuesday, April 29.

Voters of the three-town district will be asked to approve bonding $40.8 million to build a new consolidated primary school and update the high/middle school. Additionally, they will be asked to amend the 47-year-old regionalization plan, which dictates a grade school be in each town. 

A years-long debate has boiled over residents who want to retain their local elementary school-particularly in Roxbury and Bridgewater- and those who feel a consolidated school is more cost effective as enrollment shrinks.

The referendum would have been scheduled last week, but because the question was amended to better clarify the placement of the school, the school board for the Washington, Roxbury and Bridgewater district had a legal obligation to conduct one more hearing.

About 30 people showed Thursday, and although opinions were mixed, they were mostly against.

As he did at a meeting last week, former board member Ed Wainwright told the panel of planners and school board reps he believes the "referendum will fail" and it is time for the district to consider options such as a tuition out program.

Last year architecture firm Fletcher Thompson and project management firm Arcadis were hired to design a building that would address an increasingly problematic situation regarding the district's declining enrollment. According to the business office, the district is projected to lose almost half its student body during the next decade: 796 students this year will be 461 in 10 years.

The potential 59,000 square-foot building would hold up to 300 students. There would be three wings that stick out in clawlike fashion, and among two of those wings there would be two classrooms for each grade from prekindergarten to fifth.

The gymnasium and cafeteria would be located in the third wing and there would be a separate area for music, art and library classes.

Also, the design is liked because it would easily allow for a future addition.

Letters to Editor -Spectrum March 14, 2014

Feels consolidation would prompt 'community collateral damage'

Published 5:30 pm, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

To the Editor:

I have lived in Roxbury for 30 years now, with all five of my children having attended Booth Free School.

It comes as no surprise to me our current Region 12Board of Education has once again come up with a plan to close our three hometown elementary schools and construct a new consolidatd pre-K to grade-five school in Washington.

This same proposal, which is now referred to as the "Preferred Option," has been suggested by past boards several times in the last three decades.

Reasons for shuttering our schools have varied over the years.

Previous boards have cited `necessary' and prohibitively expensive repairs, projected decreases in enrollment, and projected increases in enrollment.

The current board stresses the most recent studies which predict there will not be enough children (or tax dollars), to make it viable to educate them in our three "inefficient," hometown schools.

Though the perceived problems have varied, the solution has always been the same: close our local schools and build a new one.

The Board of Education has hired an architectural firm and a project manager, at a cost to taxpayers, sent out a full-color brochure with pictures of the preliminary conceptual design, and set the wheels in motion to obtain the $40 million to bond the project.

The misstep in this process is the constituents of Region 12 have not voted whether we want to close our three schools and build the one that is pictured in the brochure.

A great deal of data in regard to the necessity for and cost of "The Preferred Option" has been circulated and discussed.

Should the voters of Roxbury and Bridgewater approve this option? We would be the only towns in Connecticut without a hometown elementary school.

I personally believe there are three major points to consider before casting a ballot.

1) The numbers -- the Board of Education believes the presented numbers (demographic and dollars) speak for themselves. Math may be the universal language, but everyone still speaks different dialects.

Numbers can be selectively arranged so as to make any strategy seem viable. Anyone who thinks the numerical data the board has circulated is cast in stone is being naïve.

2) Quality of education -- our three K-5 schools have been doing a fine job of educating our children for decades. They are the pride of their hometowns.

Burnham School students' performance on state Mastery tests were in the top 1 percent of all schools in the state with a performance index of 95.5.

Booth Free and Washington Primary are not far behind.

There is no available data to support the board's assurance that a new regional pre-K to grade-five school on the Shepaug Valley Middle/High School campus would improve educational quality.

There are no regional pre-K to grade-five schools in Connecticut to use as a model. The general consensus suggests smaller grade spans and classes are the preferred model.

3) Community collateral damage -- Roxbury, like Bridgewater and Washington, is a small town. There is not much to it really: mostly just hard-working people busy with family, work, business and personal matters.

We have the Town Hall, the post office, the volunteer fire department, the senior center, the library, Roxbury Market, our churches and Booth Free School.

Any one or all of these facilities could be consolidated in the name of efficiency (see Malloy's central governance), but at what cost and to whom?

Here, children bear the brunt of consolidation to serve an administrative end.

Our hometown schools are an integral part of the fabric of our communities.

Tear that fabric and it is hard to predict how it will unravel. This "community" issue deserves at least as much consideration as the "cost and quality of education" in our towns.

While we may be facing many difficult problems as to the future of our towns and our educational system, closing the Booth Free, Burnham and the Washington Primary schools and building a new, consolidated school is not the solution.

Paul Lang

Roxbury

Believes 'change would be good' in Region 12

Published 5:30 pm, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

To the Editor:

Region 12 has many tough decisions to make in the upcoming months.

It will bring into play not only facts but emotions and values from many separate families in the district.

I would like to start by admitting I certainly do not know every family's thoughts on these upcoming decisions but I do feel the need to express my own thoughts.

I could be among a few select people who believe change is a good thing.

From infancy to adulthood, the human condition is one of constant change and growth and one of my favorite life quotes comes from Max DePree, who says, "In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be, by remaining what we are."

Region 12 once again has the opportunity to be a leader, just as we were when we began the senior project, which many schools now emulate.

As when we were one of the first to try block scheduling, even though we have changed back; the point is we led the way and we changed when the time called for it.

I strongly believe our cost per student is already too high and we cannot continue to spread thin our students and educators as our enrollment continues to decline.

We should choose to unite as a region, for change we know is coming. Let's once again take the lead so as other small regions in the state who face the same difficulties can look to us as an example of how to move forward and succeed.

Our children deserve the best we have to offer and it should be better than we had in the past.

We all can find sentimental reasons to hold onto things (buildings) that have brought many happy memories.

However, we need to put into perspective the thought "it has always been that way so that's how it should remain."

Declining enrollment in our district is not a falsity and waiting too long to address it or grasping status quo too tightly will probably dismantle our school district all together.

Change is scary for many, but most amazing things in history have come from that exact thing. It may be time to treasure our past histories but embrace change for the new generation.

Carrie DeMilio

Roxbury

Advocates 'one for the good of all' in Region 12

Published 6:04 pm, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

To the Editor:

I have thoughts regarding the Gut Feeling column ofArt Cummings, editor emeritus of the The Spectrum, about "Future of Region 12 hanging in balance."

First and foremost -- Washington, its government officials. residents, voters or the community at large are not the bad guys in this situation.

As Mr. Cummings states: "To be fair, Region 12 faces serious challenges, with the rapidly declining student enrollment and spiraling per-pupil expenditures casting doubt about the future of the district. And enlightened solutions have to be found."

That last sentence is the crux of the challenge and issue -- Shepaug Region 12 is its own entity, an approved, state-authorized school district -- not governed by the local governments of the three supporting towns.

The district is governed by the elected Board of Education of Region 12, under the direction of the state Education Department.

By the Region 12 board's own mission statement, they are there to carry out the wishes and direction of the state Board of Education, to educate the children of the Region.

However, collaboration, cooperation and communication with the local officials are paramount for the success of the region. The state government is seeking and encouraging more regionalization at many levels, not just education. Our Region 12 is one of the smallest in the state.

Therefore, back to an enlightened solution, which a lot of people of the Region have and continue to put countless amounts of time and effort to find that solution.

As mentioned, this is not new, but continues to escape a solution. Since 1967, Region 12 was established as a K-12 region, I believe the first in the state to be a total K-12 system.

Time moves on and change becomes necessary as the situation dictates. Washington's New Preston community elementary school was closed in the late '60s.

I believe Mr. Cummings' article, while he makes several valid points, furthers the discontent and division that he himself speaks of.

It is time to put emotion and what I feel are phony property values claims aside. The system is at a breaking point that needs a real solution; a common-sense, practical, fiscally sound, based on reality for a Region 12 solution.

We, the people of Region 12 need to decide, before the state's Board of Education, building department or OSHA, to name a few, come in and do it for us.

Just like what I feel was a biased 2009 state Supreme Court ruling, by one man, that seemed to forget the one person -- one vote principle for the legally established Region 12.

That not only put Region 12 into turmoil and removed a reasonable solution to be determined by our elected Board of Education and voted by the Region voters, but has carried over to Region 14, with similar divisive results.

We in the Shepaug Region 12 school district would be better served if we all look at the big picture and not our personal, narrow-minded position, that will change as the children grow in short time anyway.

Our children interact with sports and social activities within the region now. The purposed concept, with modern facilities, would be a win-win for the children, the education system, and financially responsible.

Region 12 is a valuable asset to our communities which has developed an excellent representation with a long list of excellent graduates who continue to excel in all walks of life with their successes and accomplishments.

We all should be proud.

As for the bus ride issue, I believe if you live in the New Preston/Lake Waramaug section of Washington, your ride would be as long as or longer than Bridgewater.

No one is losing unless we do nothing.

The proposal before us would be an upgrade to enhance and improve the already valuable system. Shepaug's beautiful rural campus is located on the southern most border of Washington, with the north border of Roxbury -- in the center of the region, convenient to all residents.

If we look at the bigger picture, our region's school education system, not over-spending on outdated buildings, and think regionally, as we have been established since the late '60s, then we can and must solve this serious challenge with an enlightened decision.

One for the good of all. The time is now.

Rocky Tomlinson

Washington