Consolidation is not best solution to Region 12's problems

Saturday, April 26, 2014 1:06 AM EDT

The value of a local school to a small town is a major factor to consider, but one that most of the Region 12 Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) and the majority of the Board of Education relentlessly chose to dismiss. I was a member of the LRPC and currently sit on the Board of Education, so I'm not passing judgment second-hand.


The superintendent once tossed the LRPC a list of links to studies and peer-reviewed articles, telling members half the sources said closing a town's only school was a problem, while the other half indicated doing so would be fine. 

In fact the LRPC didn't do any research, even though it had a research budget. It only focused interminably on projected expenses and savings. Members were satisfied with just arguing among themselves with pure conjecture.

The board did eventually hire a real-estate assessor to determine whether property values suffered when a town's school closed. When he could not find a comparable town anywhere that had closed its school, the majority didn't wonder why no one else had done so. It just wrote the research off as inconclusive and nothing that should worry our pretty little heads.

I, however, read everything on the superintendent's list, and it wasn't an even split. All the writers agreed local schools are vital assets to their towns, which in turn play vital roles in the emotional, social and educational development of their youngest students.

The writers agreed town schools sometimes must close, but they should be abandoned only after everything else has been tried. But nothing else has been tried in Region 12.

One of the sources on the list, the National Rural Education Association, noted "Local school officials should be wary of merging several small schools, at least if the goal is improved performance"; and "After a school closure, out migration, population decline, and neighborhood deterioration are set in motion, and support for public education diminishes." The majority on the LRPC and Board of Education members ignored all this advise to focus on money.

When the LRPC discovered the most money could be saved by closing Shepaug Valley Middle/High School, suddenly, other things mattered.

I am not for closing Shepaug; I am convinced its best days are ahead of us. But when Shepaug was threatened, money was no longer everything. Why? Because Shepaug is a vital asset to our community. Wait - doesn't that sound familiar?

Since most of us see the non-monetary value of Shepaug, how can anyone ignore the non-monetary value of some of the best elementary schools in Connecticut? Instead of working together to save what are vital community assets, we've spent the past three years letting people who want to close the elementary schools attempt to convince everyone consolidation is the only solution. How can we know it's the only solution when we literally refuse to try anything else?

Vote no on April 29, to put the distraction of consolidation away, so we can start work on solutions that deal with declining enrollment and don't just gamely accept it; take into account the fact that costs aren't actually rising much when this year's budget is flat; and appreciate that three schools - Booth Free School. the Burnham School and Washington Primary School - are technologically up-to-date and aren't inefficient if they're giving the students the best education in the region, the District Reference Group and Connecticut.

Alan Brown
Bridgewater