Debate continues: Will Winsted close a school this year?

WINSTED — Will the Board of Education close a school building this year?This might be the year that it happens, according to Board of Education member Mimi Valyo, who is also the chairman of the School Facilities Review Committee.On Wednesday, Jan. 25, at The Gilbert School, the committee held a public focus group to listen to opinions from residents on which building to close. It was expected that ideas and suggestions from that meeting would be used to come to an eventual decision.The Board of Education originally announced in 2010 that it would close a school building before the 2011-12 school year.The closure, as announced, was supposed to be due to the board’s decision to move the town’s seventh- and eighth-graders to the semi-private high school, The Gilbert School.However, after several months of research and inspecting the school district’s three buildings — Hinsdale School, Pearson School and Batcheller Elementary School — the board voted at a meeting in late April not to close a school building.At that meeting, then Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno recommended that all three buildings remain open during the 2011-12 school year.Salerno said the buildings should remain open just in case the district’s contract with The Gilbert School was discontinued.He said closing all three buildings would cut off any opportunity to develop and expand in-district special education programs.Also, Salerno pointed out that the school year budget for 2011-12 did not include funds for moving or installing a playscape and paying for utility costs if the school district’s offices were moved.The school district’s offices are currently located in the Batcheller school building.Salerno added that, if the board chose any building to close, it should be Pearson Middle School because he said it is the most costly building to operate.His successor, current Superintendent of Schools Thomas Danehy, told The Winsted Journal that he would not comment on whether a school building should be closed.“I don’t have an opinion,” Danehy said. “I think it’s important to get opinions from constituents.”Valyo said that, by the time everything is said and done, the board could make the same decision they made last year to not close any school building.“It may not be any different this time around,” Valyo said. “However, we’re making an earnest effort to look at this issue from every conceivable angle we can think of. That is why public input is so important.”Valyo said the board will be meeting with the Board of Selectmen, parents and unions that cover teachers, non-certified staff and administrators, in considering any decision.She could not say when the board would make any building closure decisions.

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