The School Board

Must Be Accountable

To the Editor:

I would like to applaud The Newtown Bee and the editorial last week regarding the three-tier bus fiasco. It was an accurate and concise account of what has happened. Maybe now the people who tell me that it’s not the fault of the Board of Education that we have this mess, that the blame goes to the voters who didn’t pass the initial budget last spring are responsible, will start to realize that that is not true.

The Board of Education must be responsible and accountable. Judging by how the figures just don’t add up, they have not been fiscally responsible. Where did the $65,000 for the additional buses added recently come from? How can it be that it will cost an additional $400,000 to go back to the four-tier system when we only saved $124,000 by switching to the three-tier system? Not to mention the as-yet undisclosed fees to the consulting firm! If there is no more money in the budget, where did this come from? They have not been responsible in the care of school children either. To say that a 45-minute bus ride is a great goal to achieve is ludicrous. And why is it that at Board of Education meetings during public participation, they will not answer any questions? They are elected officials. If they work for us, shouldn’t they be able to answer our questions? They don’t even answer questions posed by other board members! At the last meeting on Thursday, September 18, Board Member Margaret Hull asked several times that if the bus situation has not improved by the mid-October deadline, could the board consider going back to the four-tier system. I never heard one board member answer her. Dr Pitkoff sits at these meetings looking at times smug and at times bored.

Changing the school start times was another huge mistake. My kids are noticeably tired by Wednesday. Of course they are. They’re up hours before we have to catch the bus. They have close to no playtime in the afternoon. And in a few weeks it will be dark by 4:30. Our children are young for such a short time. What a shame for them to loose this valuable time to play, relax, learn, have fun, and just be kids. This is not a child or family friendly schedule.

I still feel, as I stated some months ago in a previous letter, that none of this had to happen. That this is all a big power play by the superintendent and some of the board members to teach the voters a lesson. If the town doesn’t pass the budget they want, then these are the very big prices we have to pay. Let’s not succumb to these bullying tactics. And let’s be aware of who we vote for in November and hopefully bring about some positive changes.

Sincerely,

Janet M. McKeown

10 Hillcrest Drive, Newtown                              September 30, 2003