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04/22/2015 10:30 AMTri-town residents showed up in numbers on April 14 at the John Winthrop Middle School library to hear more about the draft plan of regionalization. The residents heard more about a plan to reduce costs and streamline administration, and school officials heard residents’ concerns about loss of local control, fears about school closure, and a desire to slow the pace.
“This is our chance to touch base with folks,” explained Regional District 4 Board Chair Chris Riley. “We are here to answer the questions we can and start the dialogue. This draft plan is not a means of trying to rescue a school district; it is an attempt to make a strong school system even stronger.”
It was almost standing room only as Superintendent of Schools Ruth Levy presented the salient points of the draft plan. The hope is to finalize the plan over the next couple of weeks and have a vote on Thursday, June 4 to send the plan onto a referendum in September.
Likening the evening’s meeting to a soft opening of sorts for the draft plan, Levy explained, “Our goal tonight is to provide you with the information we think is important for you to understand, so you can make your own decisions on June 4.”
If the plan passes through the referendum, the earliest it would take effect would be July 2016.
Reminding the audience that the current structure of several different boards in the tri-town area is “complicated” and “confusing” to many, Levy explained that currently there are three towns and five boards of education with 33 different board members.
“This prevents our leadership from fully focusing on our students’ achievement, which is what we want to be doing,” said Levy, who currently has to attend 15 different budget workshops for the different boards each budget season.
“We are separated by brick walls, which prevent our faculty from moving from one school to another without losing tenure. This has a negative effect and prevents us from attracting and maintaining excellent staff here,” she added. “Regionalization will allow us to use our time more efficiently, to serve our schools, to save towns money, and to address declining enrollment. It gives us agility and maximizes the staff strengths and allows us to work together.”
The plan is expected to save the three towns a total of $900,000 within the first four years. Levy explained that there would be an interlocal agreement that would save each town’s taxpayers money in shared costs, such as a 10 percent reimbursement on school construction projects and reduction in administrative overhead, among other things.
The two-plus-hour-long meeting, the public’s first official question-and-answer forum on the subject, generated comments and questions from audience members, including former Chester Elementary School principal and current Chester resident Lol Fearon, who explained that he had concerns about the weighted vote between towns and how that would affect Chester.
He also voiced concerns about enrollment projections and asked if because of declining enrollment the $900,000 in savings projected would occur anyways.
“There is also some discrepancy in the timeline that is concerning. In some places in the draft plan it states that there will be no changes for five year; in other areas it says no changes for three years,” Fearon said.
Stating that he is not opposed to regionalization, Fearon added, “I think it will produce more efficiency, but there needs to be more focus on local control.”
Answering concerns about the rumored closing of Chester Elementary School as part of this plan, Riley explained, “We are trying to see if there is a way to write this to give greater comfort that closing a school is not part of the plan.”
He added, “This plan covers a wide spectrum, and not everyone is going to be thrilled with the outcome, however, we are focused on our kids not only for the next generation, but for the next several generations.”
Addressing the fact that regionalization is an emotionally charged issue, Deep River Board of Education Chair Michele Grow said, “Nothing is set in stone at this point, and closing a school building is not something we are talking about. We have to bring logic back into the equation and make people understand that closing a school is not something we are looking to do anytime soon.”
Chester First Selectman Ed Meehan said he felt the draft plan still needed more time.
“The plan has not arrived at a mechanism that the people feel comfortable with yet,” he said. “We need to slow down and not have a referendum in September; instead, we can make this vote part of the municipal election in November.”
Meehan pointed out that the interlocal agreement between the towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex still has not been written or approved.
“This [regional draft plan] is a good plan and an excellent presentation, but it needs to be fine tuned,” he said.
Former Region 4 superintendent John Proctor said that the regionalization plan needs to convince each town and its residents that this is a positive thing for them.
“I don’t feel that was done tonight,” he said.
He also raised the issue of teacher tenure if regionalization became a reality and how teacher seniority would be determined as part of this plan.
Additional meetings will continue to be scheduled to answer questions and keep the dialog about regionalization open for residents.
“We are hoping to reach as many people as we can. This is a collaborative effort,” said Levy.
Residents with questions, concerns, or comments may visit the Region 4 Board of Education website, www.reg4.k12.ct.us, to submit comments and stay abreast of dates for upcoming informational forums.