Joint Study Committee Holds First Meeting

By Bob Bumcrot

With primary-school enrollments projected to decline and per-student costs expected to rise over the next decade, a study committee has been formed to examine the possibility of a merger between the Norfolk and Colebrook schools.

A first public meeting was held on April 10 at the Norfolk Town Hall. The committee, which includes Sue Dyer and Tom McKeon, first selectmen of Norfolk and Colebrook respectively, the school superintendents of both towns, the chairmen of their boards of education and the chairmen of their boards of finance, met with Tom Mooney, a lawyer knowledgeable about Connecticut statutes on school-district mergers and cooperative activities.

The proceedings gained urgency from recent statements by Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy threatening to reduce state funding to small districts and mentioning Norfolk specifically.

A study of enrollment trends at Botelle, commissioned by the town of Norfolk, has predicted a steady drop in student numbers over the next ten years. Today’s 120 students will be reduced to 80 or 85 by 2021, according to Dr. Peter M. Prowda, an education consultant from Simsbury. This would result in an increased cost per student, in current dollars, from about $20,000 to $30,000, which could reduce Norfolk’s attractiveness to potential home buyers.

Resistance to various forms of school-district merger seems to be stronger in New England and nearby states than in most of the country, where large, often county-wide districts are common. Many local residents strongly favor village control of education and sometimes harbor suspicions of larger neighboring districts. This appears to be an important reason for the failure of an earlier proposal to make Region 7 a single pre-K-to-12 district, consisting of Norfolk, Colebrook, Barkhamsted and New Hartford. But Colebrook and Norfolk, with similar populations of 1,471 and 1660 respectively, and school enrollments of 103 and 113 respectively, may constitute an exception, especially considering the financial pressures.

Discussion was both friendly and lively, including warnings from Mooney regarding recent merger difficulties in Regions 14 and 16 and a report of the current enrollment in the second grade class of Warren Elementary School: one. 

The Committee seemed to be especially interested in Mooney’s description of a possible cooperative arrangement, not a formal merger, between the two towns under Connecticut Statute 10-158A. While this may have been thought of as only a way to save on buying materials and combining services, it can, with the approval of both boards, extend much further. It could apparently lead to all K-6 Colebrook students coming to Botelle, with only a pre-K class left in Colebrook, or even to a complete closure of the Colebrook school. Botelle, which in the past has had enrollments as high as 257, would be able to accommodate the increase, perhaps after some modifications. Savings from such a merger could result from both staff reductions and maintenance operations, perhaps mollifying Governor Malloy’s understandable concerns.

The Committee decided to proceed by hiring an expert consultant on consolidation and facilitation. Several members suggested Jonathan P. Costa, Director of School and Program Services at Education Connection, in Litchfield and Danbury. Mr. Costa will be invited to the next meeting, to be held at 8:30AM on May 3 or 4, depending on availability.