WINSTED — The Winchester Board of Education will begin the new year with a renewed purpose — to investigate the possibility of closing a school in town to save money for the town in the 2012-13 fiscal year. And last week the board voted to hire a consultant to help guide the process while offering a professional outsider’s perspective.Dr. Joseph Castagnola of New Milford, an award-winning former superintendent of the New Fairfield school district, received the unanimous nod from school board members at their Dec. 13 meeting. Board members noted that the fee for Castagnola’s services would not exceed $4,900 and that he would help the board make a final decision on whether or not to close a school building, and which one to close if that decision is made.Currently principal of Brewster High School in Brewster, N.Y., Castagnola has served as superintendent of schools in New Fairfield and Portland. In 2004, Dr. Castagnola was honored as Connecticut’s superintendent of the year.School board member Dr. Richard Dutton noted that the board has been spinning its wheels with regard to making a final decision on a building closure.“We’ve strayed from the mission from time to time, and each time part of the decision was to hire a consultant to evaluate fully whether to close a school, which one and the timing,” he said. “The idea of hiring a consultant was foreign to me when we first started talking, but I can see, having met the man, that it may be something of real value to have someone be the public face of this project.”Board member Christine Royer said the decision to close a building would likely be a difficult and complicated one.“We don’t have a smoking gun in our district,” she said. “We have three buildings in disrepair. It’s going to take a lot of money to fix them properly. I think one of the things we’ve learned is we need to make a decision that is educationally sound for our kids.”Royer called Castagnola “exactly the kind of person we need to have,” and said he would give the board’s ultimate decision more credibility.Adding his approval, board member James Roberts said the price sounded right. “This to me seems like an easy decision. This is a relatively small amount of money that could potentially meaningfully change the school system.”Dr. Castagnola is expected to begin helping the board study Winchester’s school buildings in January and offer a recommendation by the end of the month.By MICHAEL MARCIANOEditorWINSTED — The Winchester Board of Education will begin the new year with a renewed purpose — to investigate the possibility of closing a school in town to save money for the town in the 2012-13 fiscal year. And last week the board voted to hire a consultant to help guide the process while offering a professional outsider’s perspective.Dr. Joseph Castagnola of New Milford, an award-winning former superintendent of the New Fairfield school district, received the unanimous nod from school board members at their Dec. 13 meeting. Board members noted that the fee for Castagnola’s services would not exceed $4,900 and that he would help the board make a final decision on whether or not to close a school building, and which one to close if that decision is made.Currently principal of Brewster High School in Brewster, N.Y., Castagnola has served as superintendent of schools in New Fairfield and Portland. In 2004, Dr. Castagnola was honored as Connecticut’s superintendent of the year.School board member Dr. Richard Dutton noted that the board has been spinning its wheels with regard to making a final decision on a building closure.“We’ve strayed from the mission from time to time, and each time part of the decision was to hire a consultant to evaluate fully whether to close a school, which one and the timing,” he said. “The idea of hiring a consultant was foreign to me when we first started talking, but I can see, having met the man, that it may be something of real value to have someone be the public face of this project.”Board member Christine Royer said the decision to close a building would likely be a difficult and complicated one.“We don’t have a smoking gun in our district,” she said. “We have three buildings in disrepair. It’s going to take a lot of money to fix them properly. I think one of the things we’ve learned is we need to make a decision that is educationally sound for our kids.”Royer called Castagnola “exactly the kind of person we need to have,” and said he would give the board’s ultimate decision more credibility.Adding his approval, board member James Roberts said the price sounded right. “This to me seems like an easy decision. This is a relatively small amount of money that could potentially meaningfully change the school system.”Dr. Castagnola is expected to begin helping the board study Winchester’s school buildings in January and offer a recommendation by the end of the month.By MICHAEL MARCIANOEditorWINSTED — The Winchester Board of Education will begin the new year with a renewed purpose — to investigate the possibility of closing a school in town to save money for the town in the 2012-13 fiscal year. And last week the board voted to hire a consultant to help guide the process while offering a professional outsider’s perspective.Dr. Joseph Castagnola of New Milford, an award-winning former superintendent of the New Fairfield school district, received the unanimous nod from school board members at their Dec. 13 meeting. Board members noted that the fee for Castagnola’s services would not exceed $4,900 and that he would help the board make a final decision on whether or not to close a school building, and which one to close if that decision is made.Currently principal of Brewster High School in Brewster, N.Y., Castagnola has served as superintendent of schools in New Fairfield and Portland. In 2004, Dr. Castagnola was honored as Connecticut’s superintendent of the year.School board member Dr. Richard Dutton noted that the board has been spinning its wheels with regard to making a final decision on a building closure.“We’ve strayed from the mission from time to time, and each time part of the decision was to hire a consultant to evaluate fully whether to close a school, which one and the timing,” he said. “The idea of hiring a consultant was foreign to me when we first started talking, but I can see, having met the man, that it may be something of real value to have someone be the public face of this project.”Board member Christine Royer said the decision to close a building would likely be a difficult and complicated one.“We don’t have a smoking gun in our district,” she said. “We have three buildings in disrepair. It’s going to take a lot of money to fix them properly. I think one of the things we’ve learned is we need to make a decision that is educationally sound for our kids.”Royer called Castagnola “exactly the kind of person we need to have,” and said he would give the board’s ultimate decision more credibility.Adding his approval, board member James Roberts said the price sounded right. “This to me seems like an easy decision. This is a relatively small amount of money that could potentially meaningfully change the school system.”Dr. Castagnola is expected to begin helping the board study Winchester’s school buildings in January and offer a recommendation by the end of the month.
Submitted
