Within a week of a Facility and Enrollment Study Committee report presentation, the Hawley Elementary School community delivered a sharp response to the idea of closing the school.

Parents and other community members gathered in the school’s gymnasium on Monday, June 8, for the first SOS meeting, a campaign endorsed by the school’s PTA, to “Save Our Schools.”

The following evening, Tuesday, June 9, school advocates gathered again at Hawley to hear from and share concerns with the school superintendent and members of the Board of Education.

The SOS campaign received unanimous support at the group’s Monday launch meeting, which included more than 100 school staff, parents, and Hawley School PTA members. The event introduced the initiative.

The idea of seeing Hawley shut down due to declining enrollment has sparked a growing concern.

SOS campaign spokesperson Aaron Carlson was one of the first to arrive Monday at Hawley School, where he spoke with Hawley PTA President Kristen Bonacci and a group of other campaign supporters.

Shortly after that, School Principal Christopher Moretti addressed the “emotional issue,” which he said was also a “community issue.”

Mr Carlson spoke, raising questions about the resulting financial, psychological, and emotional effects of closing a school. The goal, Mr Carlson said, was to convince the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen not to close a school. As the campaign progresses, he and others Monday stressed the need for respect and kindness in handling inquiries and discussions with officials.

Also addressing the large group was Borough Warden Jim Gaston. His children had grown up in Newtown, and “Hawley was their favorite,” he said. Adding his suggestions for the SOS campaign, he said, “You need to be vocal — emails, attend meetings — it’s a multi-faceted appearance to make voice heard, and heard over and over again. But, be respectful,” he said.

Mr Gaston spent time reviewing points raised in a paper he put together recently regarding consequences of closing a school, and added, “Local elementary schools are jewels … with the loss of a school is loss of a sense of family.”

Mr Gaston said he considers Hawley a part of his family. (See separate story on Mr Gaston’s report.)

Following 12/14, Mr Gaston said a “tremendous amount of joy, angst, concern,” will exist when Sandy Hook School opens, and to compound that with the loss of Hawley, it is the “wrong time,” he said. “It seems to be the worst time to do this.”

In his remarks Mr Gaston repeatedly asked, “What’s the rush?” He stressed, “Closing a school is the last of last resorts.”

Campaign members Lauren Brennan and Nancy Hintze each addressed the group gathered on Monday evening. Ms Brennan emphasized working together, “to get our voices out,” and to “do it courteously.” The women promoted an email campaign to contact Board of Education members to keep campaigners’ “voices out there,” Ms Brennan said.

Tuesday’s Talk With The Superintendent

Emotions ran high at times the following evening, Tuesday, June 9, when Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, spoke at Hawley. The superintendent gave a summary of what led to the recommendation before answering questions and hearing concerns from school parents and community members.

The Facility and Enrollment Committee recommendations to the Board of Education, presented on Tuesday, June 2, focused on closing Hawley Elementary School, but it also provided some cost estimates for closing Newtown Middle School.

The presentation listed  seven possible school redistricting configurations if a school were closed. The endorsed configuration centered on an elementary school closing, with Hawley as the recommended school.

Added together, the cost savings and cost avoidances, listed in the presentation of the Facility and Enrollment Study Committee through the 2019-20 school year, for closing Hawley are roughly $15,387,000, with cost avoidances listed as Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and maintenance costs. Cost savings and cost avoidances listed in the presentation for closing Newtown Middle School add up to roughly $9,115,926. If either school were closed, according to the presentation, other costs would be expected to be repaid to the state for projects completed at the schools within the last 20 years.

Why Hawley?

“So why Hawley?” Dr Erardi said. “… We looked at proximity to the new Sandy Hook [School] in regards to traveling space, and we looked hard at a building that has been well maintained but in need of work.”

While Dr Erardi said Hawley School is safe, he also said the building has Americans with Disabilities (ADA) compliance issues, air climate control issues, and worn out but solid mechanics.

“We know there are issues around all of the capital needs in the building,” the superintendent continued. “So we looked at capital needs and we looked at proximity,  and we landed on Hawley Elementary School.”

Reiterating statements he made during the Tuesday, June 2, Board of Education presentation, Dr Erardi said if the school board decides it is prepared to close a school then the Facility and Enrollment Study Committee’s recommendation is that the school be Hawley.

Later during the event, Dr Erardi said if the school board decides not to close a school, “We move forward. If the decision is yes, we dig deeper. As we all know, it is projected for 2016-17. That’s designed to give all of us plenty of time to make decisions in a way that doesn’t feel rushed or that it’s not finished.”

Dr Erardi also said he plans to share further cost savings and transportation details with the Board of Education during its scheduled June 24 meeting, which will be held at Reed Intermediate School.

“You can look at it a couple of different ways,” said Dr Erardi about the cost savings, “but it is going to amount to about $1 million dollars.”

Dr Erardi said he does not want the process to feel like a competition.

“Because it is not. It is absolutely not a competition,” Dr Erardi said. “It’s a partnership to do what is best for the district.”

The school board, Dr Erardi said, will look “hard and smart” at the recommendation to close a school.

Community Input

 Community members at the Tuesday event voiced concerns about whether it is the right time to close a school; if closing Hawley would affect the social, emotional, and psychological needs of students; whether enrollment projections will occur as predicted; whether the district will study the emotional impact closing a school would have as closely as it looks at the potential financial impacts; and what would happen if some parents decide not to send their students to the new Sandy Hook School.

A number of speakers asked about the timing of possibly closing Hawley for the same school year the new Sandy Hook Elementary School is expected to open.

Another person suggested the conversation should be around growth and how to increase enrollment instead of focusing on decline, while others expressed concern about the anxiety the conversation is creating already.

More Work To Come

Next school year, Dr Erardi said, the district will have roughly 1,100 students less than it had in the 2005-06 school year, the peak for the district’s enrollment. The superintendent also said he thinks it would be a disservice to the town to not look at the option of closing a school.

The superintendent also invited community members to write to him and share their questions and concerns with him and the Board of Education.

Following Tuesday’s event, SOS Spokesperson Aaron Carlson said the campaign is grateful for Dr Erardi and the school board’s openness and availability.

“We carry the utmost respect for them and do not envy their position,” said Mr Carlson.

The SOS campaign has created a “Save Our Schools” Facebook page, and, while Mr Carlson said no future forums have been scheduled, he expects more to come. He also said the SOS campaign is sharing future school board meeting dates for people to attend.

“SOS understands that there are real concerns with enrollment, however we do not feel the timing is right for a change due to so many other complexities in our community,” Mr Carlson said. “We also believe the public has not been provided the right financial data on the true implications to their tax payments. We do not see that their justification outweighs the risk involved for the community as a whole. This risk is to every parent regardless of school and every taxpayer.”