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Kent, Salisbury opt in, marking unanimous participation

Region One Study

Kent, Salisbury opt in, marking unanimous participation
Salisbury Central School
File photo

The final two Region One school boards have agreed to participate in the district’s organizational study, marking full participation from all six boards across the region, plus Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

The Kent Center School Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday, June 10, to opt into the study. The Salisbury Board of Education followed suit Monday, June 15.

The study will run from September 2026 to May 2027, with findings to be presented in June 2027. Region One Superintendent Melony Brady-Shanley and Business Manager Sam Herrick will conduct the study.

“This is the last stop,” Brady-Shanley told the Salisbury BOE, noting that every other school board in the district had agreed to participate.

Asked whether the focus would examine the possibility of consolidating some of the region’s K-8 schools, Brady-Shanley said, “That is a piece of it.”

While Brady-Shanley maintains that community identity and character will remain central to the process, the study will examine declining enrollment in several smaller schools throughout the region, as well as operational costs that continue to rise.

“As part of this work, the study will clearly outline the financial and educational realities of the Region’s current model so that each local board of education and community can make informed, data-driven decisions about their school,” the proposal stated.

Brady-Shanley added that once the study is complete, she does not expect immediate action. “It will take a while for people to digest it.”

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.
Alec Linden
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