Published 5:46 pm, Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The Region 12 school district is facing the dual challenge of sharply declining student enrollment and increasing per-pupil expenditures.
An enlightened solution is needed that guarantees continued educational excellence, affordable costs and the best interests of the three member communities -- Washington, Bridgewater and Roxbury.
Unfortunately, the proposed solution that will be voted on in the Tuesday, April 29, district-wide referendum is not the answer.
The plan being put before voters on Tuesday would close down all three beloved, vibrant and excellent elementary schools in the district in favor of building a new consolidated elementary school at the Shepaug Valley Middle/High School in Washington.
We think that is an ill-advised proposal, one that has created deep divisions in the district and would prove detrimental to the students, to the three communities and to the taxpayers.
At best, it is open to debate whether a new consolidated school could deliver as good an educational experience as that now enjoyed by elementary school students in all three towns, let alone improved educational quality.
Bridgewater's Burnham School and Roxbury's Booth Free School are the top-ranked schools around, with Washington Primary School not far behind. Parents are actively involved in their local schools, and the students benefit from the comfort and security of being educated close to home. Why change that?
Under different circumstances, proponents of consolidation might be able to make a better case. But at a time when the district's four schools are way underutilized and projections call for dramatically fewer students in the future, it simply makes no sense to be building another school.
Similarly, when residents are openly wondering if Region 12 can even be sustained as a district if enrollment projections are borne out, it is not good fiscal policy for the district's taxpayers to be taking on tens of millions of dollars in long-term bonding. A consolidated school would reduce operating costs, but so would other game plans that would do so without incurring excessive debt.
We also have serious concerns about the impact on the idyllic communities of Bridgewater and Roxbury if their schools were to be closed, making them the only towns in Connecticut without elementary schools.
There would almost certainly be a deleterious effect on housing prices, a change in demographics, damage to the business community and a shredding of the close-knit social fabric in both towns.
Bottom line: The proposal on the referendum ballot is simply a bad idea and should be voted down.
When voters go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked two questions:
1) Do they authorize waiving the guarantee provided in the 1967 regional plan that all three towns would always have elementary schools within their borders and instead approve the concept of a consolidated K-5 elementary school in Washington?
We urge a "No" vote on this question.
As the result of a 2009 state Supreme Court ruling sought by the town of Bridgewater, a majority in all three towns -- not a majority of the voters in the district -- must approve this change, which means any one town can block the proposed consolidation.
2) Do they authorize appropriation of nearly $41 million -- $32.6 million for a new school and $8.3 million for improvements and renovations at the middle/high school?
Refurbishment of the middle/high school is needed, and that part of the proposal may be resubmitted if this referendum fails. But a new school is not in the best interests of the district, and we urge a "No" vote on this question, too.
We are hopeful Region 12 residents will turn out in large numbers for this critical, historic referendum and will cast a resounding "No/No" vote.
Then school and community leaders can sit back down at the table and, we hope, work in harmony toward a more enlightened, more acceptable game plan for the future of education in the district.
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