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05/19/2015 02:00 PMIt’s hard to believe that there are only five weeks left of school in towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex. During that time, the Region 4 Board of Education will continue to hold informational forum meetings in regard to the draft plan for regionalization.
The board is proposing the towns of Chester, Essex, and Deep River assign all their schools to the Region 4 School District that oversees the middle and high schools, eliminating the town-specific boards that currently oversee the elementary schools.
Switching gears from the evening town meeting-style gatherings, the board has been out in full strength in all three towns, holding informal, smaller meetings at different times in an effort to reach those parents and town residents who are unable to get to the evening meetings.
At this time, according to Superintendent of Schools Ruth Levy, based on public feedback and response, attorneys have reworded a portion of the draft plan, which involves element IV of the plan, specifically: “Detailed educational and budget plans for at least a five-year period including projections of enrollments, staff needs, and deployment and a description of all programs and supportive services planned for the proposed addition/withdrawal of grades to the district.”
Residents had expressed concern that regionalization might result in consolidation, particularly as Chester has the most dramatically declining school population.
Some changes to this section include the addition of wording about a “study committee, which shall be appointed by the district Board of Education, to include, but not be limited to, members of the public from each of the three communities, educators working at each of the three elementary schools, the superintendent of schools, and a district Board of Education member from each of the three communities. The Study Committee shall develop and implement a process for review of options for elementary school grade reconfiguration and/or building closure, which process shall include an opportunity for public input.”
The full second draft plan is available to read on the Region 4 website, www.reg4.k12.ct.us.
Levy encouraged residents to read through the revised plan, review it, and post questions and concerns, if they have any.
Currently the boards of Finance and Selectmen in all three towns, along with the chairman of each of the boards of Education, as well as Levy, are meeting continuously to discuss the possibility of an inter-local agreement between all three towns, which is a necessary component for regionalization to become a reality.
The next informal meeting about regionalization for parents will be held on Tuesday, May 26 at 8:30 a.m. in the Deep River Elementary School. A public forum to present the new language in the proposed draft plan will also be held on May 26 at 6 p.m. in the John Winthrop Middle School Library. An additional informal conversation about regionalization for parents has been scheduled for Friday, May 29 at 8:30 a.m. at the Essex Elementary School ,and a regularly scheduled, joint Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, June 4 in the John Winthrop Middle School Library at 7 p.m.