Government

Board of Ed To Form Its Own ‘Headquarters Committee’ To Study, Recommend Future Location

By |

The Board of Education on Monday moved toward forming a new subcommittee that will be charged with researching and making recommendations about a future location for New Canaan Public Schools’ offices. Composed of three or more school board members, the ‘BOE Headquarters Special Committee’ will work with architects and builders, investigate the needs and uses of similar “high performing district” BOE headquarters and “review past facilities studies performed for the New Canaan Public Schools,” according to a description that the Board of Ed reviewed at its regular meeting on Monday night. School board member Brendan Hayes said that as municipal officials think about what to do with town-owned buildings “and the number of possible locations of the Board of Ed, it makes a ton of sense for us to study it and really outline for the town as far as space goes and the type of space and access and things like that.”

“And really work with town collaboratively to make sure that if there is an opportunity to save money through relocating the Board of Ed offices that we take that opportunity,” Hayes said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. It isn’t clear which board members will serve on the committee. The Board of Ed read through a description and Chair Dionna Carlson said the group could take up a formal vote to form the committee at its next meeting.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

The town on Feb. 27 received an application to build Merritt Village, the 110-unit complex on the Maple and Park Streets block at the edge of downtown New Canaan, approved in November 2016 by the Planning & Zoning Commission. The application calls for four multi-family residential buildings with 167,746 gross square feet and a combination of underground and surface parking. ***

And now, a photo of Parking Enforcement Officer Mike McCargo with New Canaan’s Lummi Roscoe, a Pomeranian. ***

The Board of Finance on Thursday night voted unanimously to approve a town-wide budget for next fiscal year of $150.9 million—an overall increase of 1.89 percent—including a Board of Education operating budget of $89.7 million.

Government

‘It Will Not Be Easy and It Will Not Be Pleasant’: Board of Finance Hears Passionate Calls for Fiscal Prudence, Full District Funding as Vote Nears

By |

New Canaan must be careful as a community to have frank, detailed conversations about its financial situation and not “succumb to the tyranny of the parent,” a homeowner and mother of four children in public elementary and middle schools here told members of the Board of Finance on Tuesday. Everyone loves their kids and wants a good school district, yet this idea floating around New Canaan now that spending on the public schools somehow fuels property values is false, according to Rita Nagle. “That is simply not the economic relationship that exists,” Nagle said during a budget hearing held at Town Hall. “Property values fund taxes, which fund school spending. That is the way the relationship works.

Government

Op-Ed: School Budget Cuts—Testing the Rhetoric

By |

In public meetings and media reports, it’s becoming clear that the New Canaan Board of Finance will act this week to approve a school budget for 2018-2019 that’s as much as $1 million less than requested by the Board of Education. In April, the Town Council will decide whether to make additional reductions. These are important decisions, so it’s worth scrutinizing the logic behind these moves. Premise #1: Major cuts can be made from administrative and back-office functions with no impact in the classroom. The problem with this premise is that virtually all administrative functions have a direct and important impact on the performance of teachers in the classroom.

News

Op-Ed: School Success and School Budgets

By |

Breathtaking accolades for our schools continue to roll in. On Feb. 9, the Connecticut Department of Education released its annual statewide school ratings. Drum roll: New Canaan is the number one district in the State once more. Remarkably, we’re among only 27 percent of districts whose rating improved.