Were School Officials Listening?

To the Editor:

I learn more when I sit and listen than when I stand and speak. At the July 12 Board of Education meeting I learned a lot.

During public participation segment of the meeting, Newtown’s two state representatives, Democrat Chris Lyddy and Republican DebraLee Hovey, spoke with a unified, clear voice. They said unequivocally that the Board of Education and superintendent had not responded effectively to the concerns of many parents of special education students. Neither of them wanted to be there. They had worked hard in a bipartisan manner behind the scenes to prevent a public showdown. However, they felt there was no other way that the voices of the people they so capably represent would be heard. They laid out a specific course of action. To their credit, the Board of Education voted later that evening to implement several recommendations made by Reps Hovey and Lyddy.

The other issue addressed that evening by many of the public was the bus contract. Everyone who spoke favored the continuation of the present owner-operator system. There was strong support for the O-Os from several Republican leaders. In a June 16 letter to the editor that articulated the position of the Democratic Town Committee, Jim Gaston voiced strong support of the O-Os. Mr Gaston wrote, “The owner-operator system…is a service that is unparalleled.” I was listening, but I didn’t hear anyone argue that it wasn’t.

At a time when so much of politics is divisive, when government leaders retreat to entrenched positions of moral rectitude, on July 12 I heard political leaders meet in the middle. I saw bipartisan efforts to solve the problems that face us. I hope the Board of Education and superintendent were listening as well.

Jan Lee Brookes

38 Hundred Acres Road, Newtown                                 July 19, 2011