Roxbury Resident: 'Let's just fix our schools"

Roxbury resident: ‘Let’s just fix the schools… and get on with life’

In the past few years, the voters in Region 12 have been offered and turned down two options: spending tens of millions of dollars to renovate and expand our existing elementary schools, or spending a few million less to build a consolidated school.

This is not as difficult as we make it out to be. A consolidated school is a non-starter. The people in the three towns value their own schools as the centers of their communities. They aren’t giving that up.

If a consolidated school is a non-starter, why was the renovation and expansion of the existing schools defeated?

In part, because of the different circumstances in the three towns, but mostly because of money. We are willing to spend more to keep our schools, but many of us view the proposed renovations as being Taj Mahal schools.

Those of us middle- aged and older likely went to schools that were poorly heated, had no air conditioning or computer rooms, but that had class sizes upwards of 30 kids.

I would venture that the education we received in those drafty old WPA buildings was at least the equal of what our kids get. It isn’t the buildings, but the families teachers, and programs.

Yet Region 12 marches on.

The school board, apparently deaf to the wishes of the voters, spent $65,000(possibly in a manner that violated its own bidding procedures) to study a property in Roxbury for a consolidated school. Turns out that what’s not swamp there is mostly rock.

If I weren’t paying for it, I would be laughing.

And in the process, the Bridgewater members of the board were excluded from the discussion. Hello? Did anyone think that move wasn’t going to annoy Bridgewater?

In retribution, Bridgewater withheld payment of its portion for the $65,000 and filed suit. Petulant perhaps, but understandable, given that its representatives were denied a voice in the original discussions.

The current thinking is for each Town to “build to suit”; with the idea being that each town can fund its own desires.

Except not so much. The school board must approve the Town’s plans. Does anyone expect this approach to save money? I don’t.

Even at that, representatives of the three towns have to sit down together and modify the original regional agreement to allow build to suit.

But Washington now refuses to talk with Bridgewater until Bridgewater drops its suit and ponies up the money.

You can’t make this stuff up. First, let’s stop acting out a sit-com script and take a regional view. Bridgewater has to pay, and Washington has to talk to the rest of us.

Next, let’s talk about what we expect from our schools. I advocate fewer frills and sound basics, which take up less classroom space, and produces citizens like us who’ve made it far enough in life to pay taxes here in region 12.

Let’s fix the structural problems with the existing schools, use portable classrooms for Roxbury’s expected population bubble, or shift some Roxbury kids to Washington Primary or Burnham, and get on with life.

Andy Engel
Roxbury, CT