Board votes to move first grade to Batcheller School

WINSTED — During their meeting on Tuesday, June 14, the Board of Education voted to move the first-grade class from Hinsdale Elementary School to Batcheller School for school year 2011-12.The vote was 6-2, with board members James DiVita, Richard Dutton, Susan Hoffnagle, Christine Royer and Joseph Hanecak voting for the move.Board members Carol Palomba and Chairman Kathleen O’Brien voted against the move.Board members Raymond Neal and Paul O’Meara were not present at the meeting.Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno made the recommendation for the move.“There are vacant rooms [at Batcheller] and it is more appropriate that primary grades be together,” Salerno said. “It will free up four classrooms in Hinsdale and will allow for reading [programs] there.”Salerno said that, due to the move, there would be a full-time building administrator at both Hinsdale and Pearson schools.Because the school district’s central offices would remain at Batcheller, the new superintendent of schools would also act as a half-time principal for the school.O’Brien told Salerno that she is against the idea because she did not like the idea of adding more responsibilities to the superintendent’s position.“Seeing how we’re going to have less administrative staff next school year, I don’t see how you can justify having two grades at one school,” O’Brien said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”“Some superintendents are war horses,” Salerno said.Palomba told the board that the district should have voted to close one of the school buildings when they had a chance.“I still think you should close a school and utilize what you have,” Palomba said. “You’re probably still going to have a close a school next year.”Royer strongly disagreed with Palomba and argued that the district needs all of the space it can get.“Where the heck are you going to put all your special education students?” Royer asked Palomba. “There are requirements of space for special education students. We have 87 students that are tuitioned out. The overwhelming majority [of superintendent candidates] have told us that you must create physical space in school programs in order to pull our students back [in the district]. You cannot do that unless you have physical space in school buildings. Where are you going to pull them out to, the parking lot?”O’Brien said she understood Royer’s point.“It would be nice to have one building to house [all grades], that would be the right thing to do,” O’Brien said.