To the Editor:

What a difference a couple of months make. When I started my campaign for re-election to the Board of Education, I made a list of the issues that I knew we would all be talking about. Things such as the lack of a state budget and transportation topped that list and certainly were talked about. Here we are a few days before the election, though, and things have shifted dramatically. We are now looking like we will have a state budget soon that doesn't hurt Newtown as much as we feared over the last month (I'm being cautiously optimistic here), transportation has improved, and we are underway with the search for a new superintendent of schools. I'm not saying any of these issues have gone away, but they are now a different discussion then they were, and have been overshadowed by other issues that have come up in the past few weeks.

As I have learned over the last year and a half on the Board of Education, this is how things go. New challenges present themselves as the old challenges are put to bed, or sometimes even before that. New information comes into focus and has to be processed so that we can continue moving forward, which is what I want to be able to do if elected to continue in my position. The issues of budget will always be there, even with the potential resolution to the lack of a budget and hopeful restoration of most funding, we will still need to be building our budget with careful consideration and attention to detail. I'm not saying we just go in and cut this or cut that or eliminate entire sections of programs, but at the same time we need to make sure we aren't just spending money for the sake of spending money. There is a middle ground that can be reached that supports both the students and the taxpayers (both young and old). While we are doing this, I'm hoping that we can continue to look at other topics that are important to education, such as the evolution of our current programs and services. I have also picked up some interesting ideas and information throughout the campaign while listening to everyone that has approached me that I would love a chance to examine and follow up on with the board.

I encourage everyone to get out on Tuesday and make your voice heard. I hope that you will vote for me to continue in my position. I am in a unique position amongst the other candidates as I was a student and employee in the school district before I was a board member. I have seen all angles of the system. I also am the only one with elementary age children in the district, giving me a different perspective. So please consider me, Daniel Cruson, Jr, for Board of Education.

Daniel Cruson, Jr

Dodgingtown Road, Newtown         October 31, 2017