Consolidation Considerations

Colleen Gundlach’s View from the Green hopefully alerts residents of both Colebrook and Norfolk alike to further examine regionalization before committing to a path that is nearly impossible to change.

If the only issue were having our friends and neighbors from Colebrook share in our school community, I would wholeheartedly support that! Unfortunately, it is not the only issue to be considered.

Is the plan as it is currently laid out financially fair to Norfolk? We would be giving full use and half of the control of our most valuable town asset for a nominal fee and sharing our recognized savings with Colebrook until it started balancing out between the two towns, a 5-to-10-year projection. How great do we believe that savings to truly be? Administrative consolidation will be accomplished, but I question the notion that we will consolidate teachers. When was the last time the Board of Education was able to eliminate a teaching position? As Norfolk resident Andrew Luciano commented, “I taught for 10 years, in that time, never once was a teacher laid off because of reduction in students, there is always a way to find a place for them.” Do we really believe our taxes will go down?

Knowing that my son’s class has added new students every year (and he’s currently a sixth grader), I question the assumptions made on projected enrollment in the report drafted by the Norfolk/Colebrook School Study Committee on regionalization and presented by Jonathan Costa, the EdConnection Facilitator, at the various town information sessions. Additionally, the Pre-K numbers were included through present in the report but not in future enrollment. Was the Norfolk Affordable Housing Committee consulted on projected numbers for the next twenty years?

When the Norfolk Board of Education was first approached on this issue back in 2009, former board member Jim Jackson said, “At the time Botelle students would have been crowded with the addition of the Colebrook students. We would have gone from comfortable classroom space, to struggling to fit classes in and possibly having to set up spaces in common areas to accommodate.” With this view only five short years ago, shouldn’t we make every effort to make sure that projected future enrollment numbers are correct?What if we have to expand the school? What will that cost and who will pay?

Once the Colebrook School is closed, it would cost millions to reopen in order to bring the building up to current code, much of what is now currently grandfathered in. Colebrook residents face challenging questions at this prospect: How will not having a school change their community? Affect their property values? What is the plan for the building after it is closed?

Most importantly, will this be better for the children of both towns? There has been a lot of talk about the social and academic benefits, yet there are no academic safeguards in this plan. There are no guarantees for language, music or gifted programs. Every room at Botelle School is currently in use, clearly something is going to have to go.

Regionalization is not something that can be easily undone, so before we approve a plan, let’s make sure it’s the right one for everyone!

Jennifer Münch Langendoerfer

A Too-Small School Cautionary Tale

I’m one who feels strongly about the positive results joining forces with Colebrook will have on the kids, the teachers and the towns involved. My short story is a cautionary one. When I started teaching at the Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village, one of six Region One public K-8 schools, there were 128 kids enrolled in the school. Not too big, and not too small. That was 13 years ago. This year’s enrollment is a whopping 75, making my wonderful little school officially the smallest school in the state. We’ve been neck-and-neck with Union for years, but now we’re the “winners.” Our classes are tiny, forcing us to make multi-grade groupings in order to add some variety and spice to the day for the kids. For example, grades five and six are joined together for the “specials” subjects, such as music, P.E. and art. Collaborating with other students and teaming-up for projects is really challenging for the kids and for the staff. And, as for the staff, we aren’t replacing anyone retiring. In a nutshell, the school is disappearing and it’s a real concern. Canaan can’t absorb us at the moment, and Cornwall really doesn’t want to absorb us, although its numbers are falling fast as well. And, from time to time the discussion of closing the school comes up with staff and Board of Ed. members. Never a happy chat. Nor is debating over what is not a viable number enrollment-wise, and how to plan for that day should it become a reality. Falls Village cannot imagine itself without a school, so the worry is a big one.
It’s no secret that young families are not moving to Norfolk, nor to the northwest corner. No kids equals no schools. Norfolk has this great chance to avoid the concern and anxiety that comes with living in a small town with an aging population, and wondering how to fill those little desks every September.

Christina Hanley

Getting Back on Track

We have all noticed (1) the precipitous decline of business in Canaan over the past several years, and (2) the disastrous real estate market here in Norfolk—both largely attributable to the 2008 financial crash and its ensuing grave recession. However, whereas other Litchfield County communities have long since begun to bounce back, Norfolk and Canaan have not, at least partly because of their remoteness from mass transit to New York City. A passenger train with a frequent, workable schedule will do wonders for business in Canaan and for realty in Norfolk. Those of us who have to make the 45-minute trek to Wassaic on a regular basis are eager for a nearer station, such as the one envisioned in Canaan or at the Canaan/Ashley Falls border. A return of successful business enterprises in Canaan will benefit Norfolkians as much as it will benefit our neighbors in Canaan. And young people who are looking for a house or land in this area will no longer be discouraged by the absence of access to other Connecticut towns and to New York City. Additionally, the new heavier, stronger, quieter rails will make the train traffic far less intrusive than the trains of yesteryear.

Suzy Colt

Say No to Hate

So I live in this beautiful little nook of a town tucked away in the verdant hills of Connecticut. There are about 1600 of us, give or take the New York City crowd that likes to come out to the “Village Island” in the summer and weekends. Minding my own business, I go to get the mail to find a man and a woman huddled under a tent in front of our post office with pictures of the president dressed up as Hitler—moustache and all. They are supporting the return of the Glass-Steagall Act (most of you will have to Wiki that as I did) and calling the president a Nazi for not embracing it. BIG signs with his mocked-up picture on it with the words IMPEACH OBAMA. Ok, so I have come home, after not so politely telling them that we don’t embrace hate in our little town and that if they want to see something done in Washington then they should damn well BE in Washington. NOT in a “mostly” Dem, little New England village where Reds and Blues clink glasses on the weekend and bring each other warm meals when a loved one passes, help coach our kids on soccer teams together and cry together when they graduate from universities all over the land. Yes! We even hug one another outside the voting booths during tough elections knowing full well that they have voted for the “other team.” I am SO done with this mindset. Stop your bitching about what you want to see done and go where it matters. You want to impeach the president? Then go stand on his front yard and tell him. You want to change legislation and the entire banking system, then get thee to Wall Street with your little hot dog carriage and nasty signs. Get your hate out of my town where young mothers, bringing kids home from school today, are trying to explain to their small children why the president is on that sign dressed up with that silly face. Shame on you.

Patti Sinclair

Photo by Colleen Gundlach.