Don’t Kill Botelle School

I’ve been a homeowner in Norfolk for 35 years and have never spoken out publicly before; but I am outraged by the current proposal to combine the Norfolk and Colebrook schools. This idiotic idea gets kicked around every time someone is annoyed by taxes and thinks they can save $1 by killing Botelle.

The local school doesn’t merely serve the 50 or so current students. It helps give Norfolk its high town ranking which attracts people here. For a community to be vibrant and attract young families, you need a strong local school. Eliminating it doesn’t help the town; it harms the town. 

 With minimal public services, eliminating the school will make it even harder to develop local businesses.

 It is myopic to kill a school and hope anyone will be attracted to Norfolk. Doing that guarantees that the population of the town will subsequently diminish and state and local support for everything will decrease. Young families will move to bigger towns. Visitors want to see diversity, young and old. Infinity Hall is barely open; its restaurant is now shuttered. Yale’s music events are rarely sold out. The food pantry needs to continue to grow. Closing the school will essentially kill any possibility of growth. It’s massively shortsighted. 

 I sought out information on this topic from our Norfolk town librarian and historical expert. There has never not been an elementary school in Norfolk. Through bad times and wars, this town managed to never kill the local school. This only underscores the preposterousness of NOW suggesting it. I have never significantly drawn on town services because this is not my primary residence. I pay my taxes and try to keep my head low to stay out of town gossip. Yet I’m outraged at the concept of killing a school – let alone to lower your property taxes. I invite the Botelle parents and every other Norfolker to show up when this ridiculous proposal is discussed in town. Let’s not let a few short-sighted people kill something that is an integral part of the town and an asset. 

 -Jane Shahmanesh