Tri Town School Analysis Public Meeting April 7

Tri Town School Analysis Public Meeting
April 7, 2015
Public Comment
1. Does there have to be a minimum enrollment of 400 students in a high
school?
2. Is there a possibility of adding an additional town to the regionalized
district?
3. This would provide children with more educational opportunities.
4. Is there still room for the communities to determine the possible options
beyond what the working group has recommended? Focus groups would
be a good method for additional input. Questions the decision about which
entity would provide leadership (i.e., Region 11).
5. Re: CGS 10-47b – what would happen if a referendum failed in one of the
three towns but passed in the other two towns?
6. Regionalization has been studied four times in the past forty years.
Conclusion has always been that there are too many unknown factors.
Benefits are not clear when comparing the funding expected at the local
level. Full regionalization would empower one town to override what other
towns would choose. Property value for that town would decline. Student
enrollment at high school is continuing to decline. High school students
should have a choice about which nearby high schools to attend. (written
comment collected)
7. Why is district dissolution not one of the options? This is not reflected in
the minutes. Voters have voted to tuition out high school students in the
past. PK-8 students should return to each town. Should revisit the other
options in 5 years. Possible that the population may recuperate.
8. Dissolution should be an option presented for discussion and for voters.
Voters in 2 of the three towns have already voted for this. Misinformation
had been distributed, which made the options less clear.
9. School budgets are three of the smallest, even though per pupil expenses
are high. High school expenditures do not include certain line items should
those students be tuitioned out to other high schools. That number should
be corrected as requested previously.
10.Is there another town in the state that doesn’t have an elementary school?
11.Special education costs: why are these included in some estimates and not
in others? Should also look at decreases over the past decade.
12.42% of eligible students chose to go to other high schools.
13.Majority of voters chose cooperative agreements. Why is this option not
being considered?
14.Did the working group look at potential monetary outlays associated with
Parrish Hill and was that considered in the recommendations?
15.Could Mike clarify what misrepresentations about education were?
16.The option to include other towns should be looked at.
17.Citizen has children at Parrish Hill, and they are getting a great education.
She chose a small community for this purpose. Small class sizes are a plus.
Can there be more of an emphasis on preserving what they have?
18.Have legislative leaders tried to get additional funding from the state?
Many charter schools are being funded by the state. Students who
graduate from Parrish Hill are being successful. Before tearing apart what
exists, more of an effort needs to be made to build up what is already in
place.
19.Citizen has a child in an elementary school. Child doesn’t have a support
system in current school. Concerned about child coming to a middle school
without the support she needs.
20.Citizen has a hearing impaired child. She is aware children get teased in
smaller classes. She is concerned that if Parrish Hill goes away, her son will
lose the support he has in Hampton. She appreciates that in a small
community children’s needs are noticed and met. Losing the high school
would be huge.
21.Panel needs to consider all students, not just those attending PH. Look at
why students are going where they are going.
22.The option of towns to absorb 7th and 8th graders has fallen off the table.
23.How were projected enrollments in the report calculated?
24.Student at PH: benefits far outweigh drawbacks of having a small school—
small school provides students with more opportunities to contribute.
25.What is the timeframe for implementing next steps?
26.If a board recommended to close a school, does a regional board have that
authority or does it go to referendum?
27.Last meeting clarified that each town would have representation in the new
consolidated board. Can it be clarified again?
28.If PH is closed, what will it be used for?
29.What would the weight of votes be if voting were to happen today?
30.Has the option of consolidating the elementary schools been considered?
31.How will educational program at PH be improved if proposed options go
forward? Will students be consulted?
32.Citizen is concerned that his child will not be prepared for life by staying in
a small community.
33.School needs to improve communication to dispel fears that new parents
have about mixing middle and high school students during the day.
34.Citizen chose to build in Scotland. People have choice about where to live.
35.Keeping PH will drive up taxes.
36.Consolidation of elementary schools can offer savings.
37.Many students went to other schools and were pleased to discover new
opportunities that were available. Not all other schools in the area are big,
and could offer small size and greater opportunities at lower cost. Past
referendum focused on building a new PH. No former students supported
building another school. Enrollment at PH is continuing to drop.