Board of Education rejects school choice

WINSTED — The Winchester Board of Education voted 3-2 Tuesday night against allowing families living in town to choose any out-of-district school for their children.

Dr. Richard Dutton made the motion, explaining to board members that at least three families had approached him during the past two years, asking if school choice could be expanded to include a wider variety of high schools than is currently offered. Dutton said parents are looking for specialized programs to increase the odds of their children getting into competitive colleges and that expanding school choices for Winsted students would help.

“These families have kids coming through Pearson Middle School and they would like to take advantage of some of the options the state is now pushing,� Dutton said. “Some districts have completely open choice, as I hope we will.�

Board members speaking both in favor of and opposed to Dutton’s motion said Winchester already has a number of outside opportunities for high school students, who may attend Winsted’s semi-public Gilbert School, Northwestern Regional High School’s Vocational Agriculture program, Torrington’s Oliver Wolcott Technical School, the Explorations Charter School in Winsted and the Greater Hartford Academy for the Arts.

Dutton said he wants to see parents given the opportunity to send their students to other municipalities, such as Simsbury, Avon or Canton.

Board member Susan Hoffnagle said Winsted representatives have discussed the issue before with Northwestern Regional High School but were concerned about drastic reductions to class sizes at Gilbert. “They said they could take 75 of our students, but that would have driven Gilbert into the ground,� she said. “I would love to pass this, but I don’t think we should do this until we know where the rest of our kids are going.�

Chairman Kathleen O’Brien agreed, calling for more time to study the issue. “I wish this were in place four years ago. I would have sent my son to the Forman School [in Litchfield], which would have been $30,000 a year. But how can you discriminate and say one child can go to Regional 7 and another can’t go to Forman?�

Board members also raised the issue of transportation costs, which are currently voluntarily paid by Winsted for students who matriculate out of town. The town is not mandated to pay under state law, but has set a precedent by paying for current out-of-town transportation.

Hoffnagle also noted that per-pupil costs would likely increase at The Gilbert School. “Gilbert has fixed costs, and if you spread those costs over a smaller number the price just goes up. We might find the cost of education goes from $15,000 to $20,000 per student.�

O’Brien said she was ultimately concerned with the severity of the proposed change, which may or may not result in an operating crisis at Gilbert. “That’s not really a decision for this board to make,� she said. “The people of the town need to decide if they want to maintain their own high school. I think the people need to be heard on this. I don’t think we can make a decision without letting people have their say.�

Though the board ultimately voted 3-2 against the measure, members agreed the subject would be revisited.

“I will be back,� Dutton said. “The time has not come tonight, but it will come.�