When the town voted in 2008 to increase the size of the Board of Education from six to seven members, the charter change that accomplished that goal stipulated that the existing 3-3 division of the six seats between Democrats and Republicans be changed to allow a 4-3 partisan bare majority. It is frequently noted, particularly by politicians, that the Board of Education should not be politicized. It was decided, however, that the benefit of greater public participation on the school board afforded by an extra seat would outweigh the distractions inherent in the competition for majority status, especially if the majority is not a very big one.

A close reading of The Bee’s 2015 Guide to Newtown to the town clerk on the eve of the local elections. In the letter Mr Grogins cited the charter and general statutes and then introduced the confusing syncopation of staggered four-year terms for school board members to conclude that notwithstanding 10/29/13 letter from Town Attorney David Grogins, a 5-2 Republican majority on the board would be legal and acceptable.the stated intent of the 2008 charter change reveals, however, that the partisan split on the Board of Education is currently 5-2, favoring Republicans. How is this possible, given the charter stipulation approved by voters seven years ago? The answer resides in a complicated

The town attorney noted in his opinion that questions that surrounded party representation on the school board in 2013 were “the result of an anomaly” created by the necessity that year of filling a vacant seat on the board. The “anomaly” explanation suggested that while the GOP won an extra seat in 2013, it was just an odd occurrence; it would not be a regular thing. And yet in the very next local election, later this year, the Charter Revision Commission is considering making that odd occurrence routine — a normal political goal for local partisans rather than something unusual to be legally parsed and rationalized in a letter to the town clerk.

When it comes to the ideology of sustaining and improving education in Newtown, local partisanship on the school board is difficult to discern. The people currently serving on the Board of Education seem to respect each other and work well together. It may not matter now whether there is a partisan majority of one or two. But we are never more than one divisive issue away from a time when it could make a big difference to the people who recruit and nominate those candidates. Imagine it: that anomalous year when the school board is highly politicized.

Without a compelling reason to scrap the “bare majority” restriction for school board membership, the Charter Revision Commission should leave that requirement in place… unless of course it can devise a school board election process truly representative of a town that has no real partisan majority. The political designation with biggest plurality on Newtown’s list of registered voters is unaffiliated. Republicans and Democrats come in a distant second and third. Addressing that anomaly would be well worth the commission’s time and effort.