Regional Study Clarification

I think that some of the wording in Bridgette Rallo’s article in the July/August issue requires clarification. The article states, “Instead, Board of Education members will support a proposed Regional 7 study which considers whether it is financially feasible to assume the education of all children in grades K-12.  BOS members agreed to send a letter to Regional 7 Superintendent stating such.”
In fact, the Norfolk Board of Education (BOE) does NOT support a regional study. We formally voted on it during our May 12th meeting, and on May 24th the BOE sent a letter to Region 7, with copies to the offices of the Selectman and Finance Board, among others. On June 1st, the Norfolk Board of Selectmen voted to support the Regional 7 K-12 study, and sent a letter to Region 7 on June 8th.
To be clear, to move forward with a regional K-12 study the process requires that the Boards of Education from two of the four Region 7 towns would need to formally request it.  The Colebrook and New Hartford BOEs DID request this study, so it will be happening. Ultimately, it will come down to a town-wide vote in each of the four towns, where all of the towns must approve the plan, at least a year from now and I am sure there will be many discussions between now and then that the public can participate in.
We are proud of our school while also cognizant of the fact that we need to be financially prudent.  We are the first Norfolk Board of Education in recent history that has submitted two consecutive ”zero increase” budget requests. For a host of reasons, the Norfolk BOE does not believe that our kids would get a better education at a better price with a regional approach to Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. However, now that the K-12 study is moving forward, we will work in a respectful manner with our Region 7 partner towns, to make sure that our concerns are openly discussed and addressed over the coming year.
-EJay Lockwood
Chairman, Norfolk Board of Education