Sept 29th Newsletter

Hello!

In my last newsletter, I talked about the issue of rising expenses and the declining elementary school age population.  Similar facilities expense and declining student enrollment circumstances are present at John Winthrop and Valley Regional.

Statistics gathered by the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG), show that the 12-18 year old population in the Tri-Town area has significantly declined over the past decade.  The under 18 population in Deep River has declined 25% between 2010 and 2020.

In early May, a planning workshop was led by Brian White, Superintendent of Region 4.  Board of Education members, Board of Finance members, Selectmen and members of the public were invited from Deep River, Chester, and Essex to attend.  No Selectmen or Finance Board members from any of the three towns attended. Two members of the public attended.

At the planning workshop, the Region 4 Superintendent and the workshop facilitator spoke about how each of the 5 Tri-Town schools was running at less than 50% capacity.  The workshop leaders also shared that in the next 5 years, $120 Million of infrastructure expense would be needed at the three area elementary schools, John Winthrop and Valley Regional.

The Tri-Town system is a public school system teaching students in class sizes smaller than the average class size in private schools. Does this make sense? While super-small classes might seem ideal on the surface, in actuality, they limit students’ exposure to the diversity of thinking and learning available in a “right-sized” classroom.

Of course we are proud of the award-winning quality of education our middle school and high school provide. However, we need to start figuring out a way to keep the current high level of quality, while reducing the cost of the physical footprint and delivery system.

The current mold situation at John Winthrop has necessitated the JWMS students to be temporarily located in Valley Regional until the problem is fixed. As unfortunate and unsettling as this is, it does present an opportunity to “test drive” a consolidation of the two student bodies. Why not use this situation as a learning experience?  Could the relevant board and Region 4 leadership, along with other key municipal and civic stakeholders, including parents and students, draft a list of key considerations, or learnings which they would like measured during the co-occupancy duration? These could include questions or issues stakeholders might want addressed as part of a formal review of the issue of possibly consolidating the two student populations in a single building on a permanent basis.

What is my personal point of view?  I think that we have to very seriously look at the cost of continuing to provide Middle and High School education with the physical logistics currently used in the Tri-Town system.

Is consolidation of the John Winthrop and Valley Regional into one building the answer? We don’t know enough yet to answer that question.  However, as your First Selectwoman, I commit to fully engage in the analysis, discussion, communication, and consensus-building needed to address the situation.  I won’t be a “no-show” at key planning meetings and discussions of this important issue.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of my campaign.

Warm regards,

Katie