To the Editor:

Please be sure to vote this Saturday, October 5th in the town referendum. My family and I will be voting Yes for Sandy Hook Elementary School. Whether one looks at the issue practically, heart-felt, or economically, to me, the answer is yes, yes, yes.

Practically, this is fastest way to return the Sandy Hook Elementary School community to Newtown. It is also the only way to keep the Sandy Hook Elementary School community together.  The one universal request of the Sandy Hook community was to keep the school community together. A Yes vote honors that single request.

Heart-felt…though we live in the Borough…We Are Sandy Hook, too. We all are Sandy Hook.  A Yes vote returns a school that we all lost. If only we could do the same for our loved ones.

Economically, Newtown will not be directly paying for the school. Indirectly, we will pay the same way we pay for those suffering from Katrina, Sandy, the California fires, and other tragedies. Sharing is what a community, a state, and a nation is about. We are down a school. Enrollment projections towards the end of this decade are forecast to rise. Should we vote No and have to build a school then, we are on our own to fund 70 percent of a $45 million-plus school. That’s a huge risk most risk managers would avoid. Finally, Newtown has long paid out more taxes than it receives back from Hartford. In our time of need, it’s okay to accept some of our money back.

Please Vote Yes and Support Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Thanks for reading.

(I am a Selectman, however these opinions are not necessarily those of the Board of Selectmen, though I’m pretty sure my fellow Selectmen will be voting Yes).

Sincerely,

Jim Gaston, Sr.

18 Main Street, Newtown                    September 30, 2013