January

Valley Regional High School (VRHS) junior Katherine “Kate” Konrad, missing since Dec. 20, 2019, was located in Oklahoma after a traffic stop for a motor vehicle violation. She was taken into police protective custody.

The Regional 4 School District hired Richard Huot as interim business manager, following the resignation of former R4 business manager, Kimberly Allen.

February

A $7,963,711 budget for the Supervision District of the Regional 4 School District was approved by the Supervision District Committee. It represented a $249,309 or 3.23 percent increase from the 2019–’20 Supervision District Budget of $7,714,403.

Chester Elementary School (CES) was recognized by the Connecticut State Department of Education as a “School of Distinction” based on high performance on the State’s Accountability Index, which measures academic performance, absenteeism, physical fitness testing and many other factors.

March

In response to the spread of COVID-19, Governor Ned Lamont’s declared public health and civil preparedness emergencies throughout the State of Connecticut, and the Town of Chester declared a local emergency.

Lamont ordered all schools in Connecticut closed, and joined surrounding states in ordering all restaurants, bars, commercial casinos, theaters, and gyms closed to on-premises business.

Citizens in Chester approved an authorization for a transfer of funds and expenditures related to Phase III of the Main Street Improvement project at a town meeting.

April

The budget funding operations at VRHS and John Winthrop Middle School (JWMS) was adopted by the Region 4 BOE. At $21,163,741, the budget represented a $591,066 or 2.87 percent increase over the 2019–’20 school year.

Kelly Sterner was named finance director for the Regional 4 School District.

The Chester Board of Education (BOE) approved a $4,964,446 budget for the 2020–’21 school year that represented a $95,469 or 1.96 percent increase from the $4,868,977 budget for 2019–’20.

The Chester Historical Society started a “Stars of Hope” project, selling handmade illuminated stars by Christopher Owens to benefit the Chester Food Pantry.

The contractor for Phase III of the Main Street project started preliminary project tasks, with crew members surveying the site and marking underground utilities.

The Chester Board of Selectmen (BOS) adopted a three-month grace period for taxes due between April 1 and July 1, without taxpayers having to apply for it. This was one of two options offered under Lamont’s executive order to help ease any financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on taxpayers.

May

Lamont announced that overnight camp operations were suspended for the duration of the civil preparedness and public health emergencies, affecting Camp Hazen YMCA.

The accuracy and reliability of the Regional 4 School District’s accounting practices in fiscal year 2019 was raised as a major issue by an auditor hired by the district at a combined meeting of the Region 4 BOE and the Supervision District Committee.

The Region 4 BOE addressed a $429,729 deficit in its Capital Sinking Fund, revealed in the results of its 2018–’19 (FY 19) audit, by applying $158,215 in unexpended FY 19 funds to the deficit.

A state survey of infection control and preventative measures against spread of COVID-19 revealed oversights at Aaron Manor, a 60-bed nursing and rehabilitation center at 3 South Wig Hill Road.

A long-term recovery committee, composed of key individuals from the local community, formed in Chester.

June

A virtual graduation ceremony and drive-through procession was held for the VRHS’s graduating class of 2020.

Chester’s Board of Finance (BOF) adopted a $14,552,018 budget for fiscal year 2020–’21 (FY 21) that represented a $172,298 or 1.2 percent increase compared to spending for fiscal year 2019–’20. The BOF also adopted a 28.62 tax rate, which represented a 0.17 mill or 0.06 percent decrease from fiscal year 2019-’20.

July

Due to financial strain related to the pandemic, Connecticut (CT) Humanities awarded the Chester Historical Society with a relief grant under the Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Whelen Engineering announced a round of layoffs at its facilities due to the impact of COVID-19 on business operations. The decision affected 98 employees in Connecticut and 148 employees in its New Hampshire location.

August

Tropical Storm Isaias left fallen trees, property damage, and power outages in Chester after making its way through the state. The town set up an emergency operations center at the Chester Fire House. The facility also acted as a cooling and charging station for residents.

Registered Democrats and Republicans in Chester cast their votes for their preferred Presidential candidates at the party primaries with candidates Donald J. Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D) easily carrying their party votes. A significantly high number of voters cast their ballot by absentee, an option expanded to all under state law due to the pandemic.

Superintendent of Schools Brian White announced that the Regional 4 School District would employ a hybrid model upon reopening for the 2020–’21 school year, with students attending classes in person two days a week for the first six weeks of school.

The Region 4 BOE voted to retire the mascot and other Native American imagery used to represent any program at VRHS.

The Chester BOF approved a $9,000 request from the town’s Long-Term Recovery Task Force for items to provide potential short-term solutions to issues in town arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Major construction on Phase III of the Main Street Project finished.

September

In-person classes at VRHS resumed after the school building closed earlier in the month to all students and non-essential staff due to two students contracting COVID-19.

At a special meeting of the Supervision District committee, Finance Director Kelly Sterner reported a surplus from FY 20 of approximately $169,272. The main drivers of these savings were attributed to transportation and diesel fuel.

At a special meeting, the Chester BOE approved a transfer of funds for a temporary full-time custodial position to help ensure that the school building is properly cleaned during the pandemic. Prior to approval of another transfer amounting to $31,893 to help fund a deficit in the cafeteria fund, the Chester BOE budget ended the 2019-’20 school year with approximately $138,000 in surplus funds.

October

Another incidence of COVID-19 at VRHS necessitated the quarantine of 39 members of the school community but did not necessitate a building closure.

Students in the Regional 4 School District started full in-person learning, with three new positive cases of COVID-19 confirmed later in the week.

Kelly Sterner announced her resignation from the position of finance director for the Regional 4 School District.

The Region 4 BOE approved using $220,000 in unexpended funds from FY 20 to help reduce a $366,328 cumulative deficit in the cafeteria fund.

November

A high number of registered voters in Chester cast ballots in this year’s election, with 1,201 of the 2,596 ballots being absentee.

Chester received $85,744 in Small-Town Economic Assistance Program grant funds to implement a public Wi-Fi internet service in select spots in town.

CES and R4 schools moved to remote learning due to several new cases of COVID-19 that necessitated quarantines, exacerbating staffing shortages in the Regional 4 school district. The move came as an uptick in COVID-19 infections state-wide led Lamont to revert Connecticut from a Phase 3 reopening, to Phase 2.1.

A security project at JWMS made headway, as the architectural firm hired for the project presented seven design options to the Region 4 BOE. Options ranged in cost from $200,000 to $1.8 million.

The school district’s request that football coach Tim King resign for his participation in an unsanctioned football game that resulted in 19 members of the school community exposed to COVID-19 and landing in quarantine was rescinded after community uproar.

December

The Chester BOS decided that an educational presentation on a new strain of an aquatic invasive species followed by a public hearing and town meeting held in the spring, will decide the matter of adopting a ban on boat trailers and boats with water cooled engines on Cedar Lake.

Students at CES and the Region 4 schools returned for in-person classes, after several weeks of remote learning.

A consultant from the New England School Development Council projected a decline in student enrollment, followed by a leveling, for all schools in the Regional 4 school district. A decline of 42 students, or approximately 11 percent, was projected for Chester’s K-12 population from the ‘21 school year to the ‘31 school year.

Robert Grissom was appointed finance director for the Regional 4 school district.