Board of Education hopefuls debate at The Gilbert School

WINSTED — Candidates for the Board of Education discussed the need to keep school budget spending in check, raising the district’s CMT scores, the effectiveness of district restructuring and decreasing tuition costs at The Gilbert School during a debate last Thursday, Oct. 22.

The debate, which was held at Gilbert, was organized by the school’s political science class and moderated by Michael Marciano, editor of The Winsted Journal.

All seven candidates who participated in the discussion said one of the school board’s top priorities should be to explore ways to encourage more Winsted students to attend The Gilbert School.

The town’s per-pupil cost for the semi-private high school is based on student enrollment.

Dr. Richard Dutton, a current board member running as an unaffiliated candidate, said the connection between enrollment and tuition has “put a premium on the numbers.

“I think in the future, this part of the contract should be changed,†Dutton said, referring to the town’s agreement with Gilbert. The contract is up for renewal next year.

To increase enrollment, several of the candidates spoke of a need to improve the connection between the high school and the community.

“You need to make parents of this community feel good about the school,†John Rogers, a Democratic candidate, said.

Joseph Hanecak, a petitioning candidate, said offering additional classes to students may encourage more of them to attend Gilbert.

“Different programs may attract more students,†Hanecak said, adding that communication between the school system, parents and the community must also be improved.

“Communication, to me, is very important,†Hanecak said.

The candidates also squared off on how to find ways to keep the town’s school budget costs in check.

Christine Royer, a current school board member and former Republican now running as an unaffiliated candidate, said Winsted should explore ways to share programs with neighboring districts as a way to minimize costs while also preserving or enhancing educational opportunities.

Rogers said while it is important to find ways to implement cost-cutting measures, school board members must “make educated changes†when reducing the budget’s bottom line.

“You can’t just slash,†Rogers said. “You have to make changes that will not affect the education of the children.â€

Democratic candidate Sean Melycher, who is running for political office for the first time, said although teacher accountability is important with regards to school spending, he did not think that the town’s education budget should be cut.

Also, Melycher said the district should explore the possibility of “bringing arts and possibly theater acting†to the schools.

Although the majority of the candidates said it was too early to tell if September’s restructuring of the lower schools — known as “Plan B†— was a good idea, Democratic candidate Kathleen O’Brien said it was “not really working. It should be revisited.†O’Brien is a former chairman of the school board who has been cross-endorsed by the Republicans.

Republican candidate Carol Palomba, who works as an on-call nurse with the school district, agreed.

“It was a big mistake,†Palomba said, adding that the plan has led to overcrowding.

Struggling standardized tests scores were also a hot topic at the debate.

Dutton said the district’s changing demographics are “a reality†that has led to lower CMT (Connecticut Mastery Test) scores.

The test measures the proficiency of Connecticut’s third- to eighth-grade students in reading, writing and math. Currently, the district is struggling to meet the state’s required level of Annual Yearly Progress.

“It’s not the same ninth grade it was four years ago,†Dutton said.

Royer agreed, adding that the changing socio-economics of the town have played a part in district’s lagging test scores.

“The quality of students coming into our school system does matter,†she said.

Rogers added that if the district’s demographics are shifting, then the school needs to change with it to meet its students needs.

Kathleen O’Brien, a Democratic candidate cross-endorsed by the Republicans who has served as the chairman of the school board before, said the district must work with the school community to provide its students with the educational support they require.

“We do a good job,†she said. “But we need to do better.â€

The Journal will have full coverage of the debate for the Board of Selectmen candidates on its Web site (tcextra.com) later today. The debate took place last night (Oct. 29) at The Gilbert School and was once again moderated by Journal editor Michael Marciano.