Absorbing Colebrook students still under consideration

By  Josh DeCerbo

Norfolk’s Board of Education is weighing several issues affecting the future of Botelle School, including merger options with Colebrook.

Several years ago, the leadership of both towns supported a study of the costs and benefits of a merger. The matter was dropped once the regional school district, which includes Barkhamsted and New Hartford, funded their own study that looked into regionalizing the schools in all four towns, from Pre-K though twelfth grade. The study generally opposed consolidating the four schools, but suggested that the smaller towns of Colebrook and Norfolk “revisit the merits of combining” their schools.

Compared to Botelle, the Colebrook school lacks a proper gymnasium, computer and science labs, lunch room, music room, a Spanish curriculum, and a program for gifted and talented students. Both Norfolk and Colebrook face declining population and student enrollment, and relatively high per capita student costs.

In late January, both boards of education and superintendents met and discussed initiating a study of the consequences of a merger. The conversation focused primarily on optimal classroom size. While many on the Norfolk board seem to agree that increasing classroom size slightly might be an improvement, the prospect of doubling class sizes was met with little enthusiasm.

When Norfolk Board of Education Chairman EJay Lockwood raised the

possibility of Botelle absorbing only the portion of Colebrook students living closest to Norfolk, the Colebrook Board was adamant that their student body be kept together as a single unit. In addition, the Colebrook Board was interested in starting the study immediately, while the Norfolk Board felt the matter was less urgent for its citizens.

Despite significant differences of opinion, both boards remained open to pursuing the matter further.  In February, the Norfolk Board of Finance agreed to recommend that the Board of Selectmen, in conjunction with the town government of Colebrook, hire a consultant to analyze the benefits of a merger. This issue will clearly continue to be explored in more depth in the future.

The Norfolk board has also discussed increasing the hours devoted to pre-K and kindergarten programs. The kindergarten expansion would change the schedule to five full time days per week, a move in line with a push to expand kindergarten being championed by Governor Dannel Malloy. 

The pre-K expansion plan that has garnered the most support would see the program expand to five half-days per week. However, the board was faced with the prospect that any change would likely incur increased costs in busing students to and from school.