Residents petition school board to rescind vote

WINSTED — A petition calling for the Board of Education to rescind its recent 5-4 vote to redistrict the Winchester schools was filed in the town clerk’s office Thursday, March 19. The vote was taken March 6 at a special meeting.

Currently the town’s two elementary schools house kindergarten through fifth grade and the middle school serves grades six to eight. After redistricting, students in grades one through four will attend Hinsdale School, five through eight will attend the Pearson Middle School and pre-K and kindergartners will attend Batchellor School. The district office will also be relocated from rented office space on Elm Street to Batchellor.

While the exact wording of the petition was not available at press time, concerned parent Tina Sessa, one of nearly two dozen parents and administrators who called for the petition, said the petition made several claims, including that the board has failed to make decisions that reflect the majority’s interest and that redistricting would cause a misuse and misappropriation of funds.

During the course of several board meetings, parents and faculty members of the affected schools spoke passionately about how redistricting the schools was an unsound decision for all students involved. Those against the plan said separating kindergarten from first grade would make the transition to the higher grade more difficult for young students. There was also concern that fifth-graders are too young to be with middle-schoolers.

In addition, the petition noted that the town would be in jeopardy of losing a 70-percent state reimbursement for renovations to Pearson related to OCR complaints, as noted by former selectman and Persons with Disabilities Committee member Jay Case at the March 10 meeting during public comment.

In response to talk of a petition, Superintendent Blaise Salerno said the decision to overturn the vote is a board decision and not his alone, and the approved plan is already in  motion.

“There are things that are already afoot that are difficult to undo,� said Salerno, adding that in his opinion the redistricting is a good plan.

“This is a balance between an instruction improvement and long-range cost savings. If I thought there was really a problem in turns of providing a stronger instructional plan, I would not have recommended it.�

In response to concerns about separating the pre-K and kindergarten classes from grades one through four, Salerno said that if he had room for a pre-K through five system in one building without having “exorbitantly, very high class sizes,� he would have preferred that method, but none of the school buildings in town will allow for that. He also added that while some teachers have spoken against the plan, many are in favor.

“I know that there are many staff members who can and are willing to support this plan. I have been visited by them and we have talked about it. As I have indicated, I have never wanted to pit staff members against each other. They are professionals and everybody is entitled to their professional opinion.�

As for the plans that are already in motion, Salerno said one school administrator who will be laid off as a result of the redistricting is already looking for another job, and every day ideas are being generated to determine a construction plan to prepare the schools for the change.

In addition, the education budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year has already been completed.

“I just submitted the budget to the town on the 13th. The town charter calls for it to be delivered no later than the 15th of March. Because the 15th was a Sunday, historically it has been delivered the Friday before,� said Salerno. “On the 23rd we are supposed to present our budget and go through an explanation with the Board of Selectmen.�

Procedures on how to handle the petition are unclear.

According to Town Clerk Sheila Sedlack, the procedure to overturn a Board of Selectmen decision is written into the town charter, but the Board of Education is not covered by the charter. The board’s bylaws do not address petitions.

Should the charter be followed, the petition must include 5 percent of the registered voters in town, which Sedlack said is approximately 355 Winsted residents, and all signatures must be verified.

In order to overturn a decision, according to Robert’s Rules of Order, which governs the Board of Education, a motion to rescind must be made by one of the members in favor of the initial vote.

Sessa said that while the petition calls for the vote to be rescinded, concerned parents and educators are really asking the board to take more time before making such a drastic change to the schools. They feel six weeks was not long enough.

“We feel strongly that a longer study must be done to be adequately prepared to make an educated decision if indeed that is what is best for our town,â€� said Sessa, who added that she is not against change and only wants what is best everyone.  

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14.