[davwve]

Originally Posted by Masterj

They’ve discussed merging East Granby and Suffield (and occasionally Windaor Locks) for as long as I can remember put it never pans out.

The talk as of late has been E. Granby and Granby consolidating.


I actually attended the E. Granby school system and at the time liked and enjoyed the smaller size. It wasn't until I entered my higher education and was exposed to experiences and stories from vastly different environments that I realized how many educational experiences "I" missed out on. This is further cemented with having a young child currently in a large district and reviewing their curriculum and opportunities for classes. As my wife and I are currently evaluating several towns for a move this summer the small towns such as East Granby are low on our priority list simply due to the small school district.

[BPt111]

State leaders want to push the bill to consolidate schools



“Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposed a bill which would force school districts in towns with less than 40,000 residents to consolidate with a neighboring district.”

“The law, if enacted, would become effective starting in July 2021.”

“Looney’s simple rationale for his bill is: “to create a more efficient educational system.”


“The town of Wilton has also been vocal in its opposition to Looney’s bill, which would force them to consolidate with Norwalk.”

https://ctpost.com/local/article/CT-...photo-16837533

[robr2]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Building maintenance, for one, would be a tremendous savings. That, alone, really hits small towns hard.

Only if they actually close buildings. If districts merge and keep the same number of students and facilities, the savings comes mainly from administration. They'll be down to one superintendent and support staff. They might see some savings from combining volume for purchasing.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by robr2

Only if they actually close buildings. If districts merge and keep the same number of students and facilities, the savings comes mainly from administration. They'll be down to one superintendent and support staff. They might see some savings from combining volume for purchasing.

Many schools in a lot of these small towns are in need of repair so you’re right - they’d have to combine buildings. And after doing so, they wouldn’t need as many administrators. Millions in savings.

[7 Wishes]

Most of the US (especially the South, somewhat surprisingly) regionalizes. But the big holdout on this is the Northeast, especially MA, CT, NY and NJ. More than any other part of the country, people here are big on their small town district and neighborhood school. Going to hard to fight that tide.

[hvexpatinct]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Those are middle school/high school regional districts if I remember correctly. The towns still run their own elementary schools. They actually have more administration types, as there are two boards of ed, two superintendents etc. Unless they end up closing/consolidating schools, I don't see what savings are achieved by forced regionalization. Headcount will remain pretty much the same.

In region 15 (Pomperaug) and some other regional districts, there is already just one BOE and one superintendent. The elementary schools are sort of zoned by town, but not completely - Middlebury and Southbury share one school, then Southbury has two others and Middlebury has one. The MS/HS are shared by the towns.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

Most of the US (especially the South, somewhat surprisingly) regionalizes. But the big holdout on this is the Northeast, especially MA, CT, NY and NJ. More than any other part of the country, people here are big on their small town district and neighborhood school. Going to hard to fight that tide.

It will be a hard fight to get this especially when you consider the state’s you mention are all considered to have the best schools in the country. There is a reason schools in these states perform so well and regionalism is not going to improve that. Jay

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by hvexpatinct

In region 15 (Pomperaug) and some other regional districts, there is already just one BOE and one superintendent. The elementary schools are sort of zoned by town, but not completely - Middlebury and Southbury share one school, then Southbury has two others and Middlebury has one. The MS/HS are shared by the towns.

Yeah, Amity is different - the towns run their own elementary schools and the Amity district covers the MS/HS only. Each town has a BOE and then there is an Amity BOE with members from all three towns. Not really an ideal setup from an efficiency standpoint.

[JayCT]

First of all, let’s get this straight, overall Connecticut schools are not failing. They are always among the best performing in the country and actually should be held as a model for other states. Yes, we do have schools with issues, but all states do and those problems will not go away if we regionalize schools. Maybe statistically, some systems will look better but that does not mean the quality of education will actually improve.

Second the proposals for regionalizing smaller systems makes no sense. These are not the schools that are failing or the ones who are having financial issues. If they were I could understand doing this but to my knowledge none of the districts that would be affected by this are having problems. Both bills are being proposed by legislators from large cities, not the communities being impacted by the proposals. Make you wonder the true motives of the bills. Bigger is NOT better. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

First of all, let’s get this straight, overall Connecticut schools are not failing. They are always among the best performing in the country and actually should be held as a model for other states. Yes, we do have schools with issues, but all states do and those problems will not go away if we regionalize schools. Maybe statistically, some systems will look better but that does not mean the quality of education will actually improve.

Second the proposals for regionalizing smaller systems makes no sense. These are not the schools that are failing or the ones who are having financial issues. If they were I could understand doing this but to my knowledge none of the districts that would be affected by this are having problems. Both bills are being proposed by legislators from large cities, not the communities being impacted by the proposals. Make you wonder the true motives of the bills. Bigger is NOT better. Jay

Unfortunately, this is the kind of stuff that happens when you elect Democrats. It’s mind boggling.