Still no contract signed for Gilbert

WINSTED — Winchester Board of Education members appear to be comfortable moving into the new school year with no new tuition agreement in place with The Gilbert School, in the hope that the lack of a contract will allow the district more time and space to address the district’s future direction.

At a joint meeting between Winchester and the Gilbert School Corp. earlier this month, Gilbert negotiatiors proposed the possability of pursuing a three-year contract.

Gilbert school officials had rejected a one-year proposal from Winchester at a joint meeting on May 25, citing a need for a longer term contract. At an earlier negotiation session last month, Gilbert had put forward a 10-year proposal.

But after discussing the current status of the negotiations between the two districts at its June 8 meeting, Winchester school board members showed little, if any, support for a three-year agreement, with most favoring a one-year agreeement — or no agreement at all.

“I don’t mind lapsing for a year. We need time to figure this out,� Winchester Board of Eduation Chairman Kathleen O’Brien said at last week’s meeting.

Board member Richard Dutton, who heads a subcommittee that has been exploring the district’s possible high school options for the future, agreed.

“I’m perfectly happy to have no contract,� he said, adding the district needs more time to “consider all the options.�

Dutton said his subcommittee has informal discussions lined up with area school districts about the feasability of serving Winchester’s high school students.

He told the board he recently met with officials from Torrington High School, who said they would be willing and able to accomodate Winchester’s entire high school population for a per pupil tuition of $11,000.

Winchester’s school district serves the town’s kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The town then pays tuition for each of its ninth- through 12th-graders to attend the semi-private Gilbert School.

The current three-year agreement, which stipulates a $15,169 per student fee for the town, expires on June 30.

Winchester and Gilbert officials will resume their negotiations with a joint meeting June 21 at 7 p.m. at The Gilbert School.

If the districts are unable to meet the deadline and are required to move forward into the 2010-11 school year without a contract, Winchester’s lead negotiator, Susan Hoffnagle, said they would request a separate contract be forged between the two sides specifically for special education.

This contract, she said, would allow the district to ensure that all state Department of Education requirements are met.

In addition, Hoffnagle said if The Gilbert School felt that it could not serve the town’s special education students at the high school for an “appropriate budget� of about $220,000 a year, then the Winchester Public School district would operate the program in-house instead.

School officials say they could reduce their special education costs by changing the program’s current staffing levels.

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