Numbers have shifted

Region One Enrollment

FALLS VILLAGE — At the regular (and online) meeting of the Region One Board of Education on Monday, Jan. 4, Superintendent Lisa Carter reported that overall Region One enrollment has dropped by eight students since October.

Carter said that between October 2020, when school enrollments are reported, and mid-December 2020, Kent Center School had a decrease of nine students; Salisbury Central, a decrease of five students; and Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS), a decrease of 10 students.

However, the Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village had an increase of five students; Cornwall Consolidated School, an increase of four students; and North Canaan Elementary School, an increase of seven students.

Sharon Center School remained the same.

Increase in home schooling

In the same period, the number of home-schooled students reported for all of Region One increased from 59 to 70.

In a phone interview Saturday, Jan. 9, Carter said that not all the students who withdrew are now being home schooled. Some families moved out of the area.

She added that the families who remain in the area and opted for homeschooling didn’t do so out of dissatisfaction with what Region One schools offer for distance learning, but because they have the time and ability to give their children one-on-one attention.

Carter reported to the board that the federal Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) was not renewed by Congress in the larger pandemic relief bill that passed in December.

The FFCRA mandated paid leave for employees who must quarantine due to COVID-19 and/or remain home with children due to school or child-care facility closings.

Carter said that Region One has been relatively lucky in that nobody has become “terribly ill,” and those teachers who did have to quarantine “immediately pivoted to teleworking.”

Carter said discussions with the faculty associations at the seven Region One schools will be ongoing, and noted that it is possible the new Congress and/or the Biden administration could renew the FFCRA.

“Nobody knows what’s coming.”

On the phone Jan. 9, Carter expanded a bit, saying that the Region One teachers have been “wonderful” in working with her and the Region One principals — and in avoiding the clashes between administrators and teachers unions elsewhere in the state and in the country.

Concerns about COVID testing

At the start of the Jan. 4 meeting, a parent from Cornwall asked about rapid testing for COVID-19 in the region.

Carter said the available rapid test is an antigen test, which does not give reliable results for individuals without symptoms.

She said that Region One parents have been diligent about keeping their children home if they show the slightest sign of illness, and that given “our scarcity of human resources,” she decided not to use them on an unreliable test.

Progress on school budgets

Business manager Sam Her-rick said the budget sub- committee (with John Sanders of Cornwall, Stacie Weiner of Salisbury and Jenn Duncan of Kent) has been meeting. Her- rick said the process is not as far along as usual because “there are a lot of uncertainties,” but he was con dent that a budget proposal would be ready for the normal process that culminates with a region-wide referendum vote in the rest week of May.

Charts Courtesy Region One

Charts Courtesy Region One

Charts Courtesy Region One

Latest News

Inez Godburn

NORTH CANAAN — Inez (Delaini) Godburn passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024, at Geer Nursing Home after a brief illness, with her children at her side. She was 101.

Inez was the widow of John E. (“Jack”) Godburn, Sr., who died in 2009.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nuvance hospital system to merge with Northwell Health

Sharon Hospital would become part of a larger regional health systems with 28 hospitals.

Yehyun Kim/CTMirror.org

Nuvance Health, which owns four hospitals in Connecticut and three in New York, will merge with Northwell Health to form a larger regional health system across two states.

Together, the companies will own 28 hospitals and more than 1,000 sites of care and employ 14,500 providers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton director is an Oscar nominee

Arlo Washington in a film still from the Oscar-nominated short "The Barber of Little Rock."

Story Syndicate

John Hoffman, a Millerton resident, has been nominated for his film “The Barber of Little Rock,” which he co-directed with Christine Turner, in the Best Documentary Short Film category at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards.

Distributed by The New Yorker and produced by Story Syndicate Production in association with 59th & Prairie, Better World Projects, and Peralta Pictures, “The Barber of Little Rock” explores the efforts of Arkansas local hero Arlo Washington, who opened a barbershop at 19 years old and, with a mission to close the racial inequality gap in his community, went on to found the Washington Barber College as well as People Trust Community Federal Credit Union. Washington’s goal is aiding his primarily Black neighborhood, which has historically been underserved by more prominent banking institutions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Inside Troutbeck's kitchen

Chef Vincent Gilberti

Courtesy of Troutbeck

About growing up in Carmel, New York, Troutbeck’s executive chef Vincent Gilberti said he was fortunate to have a lot of family close by, and time together was always centered around food.

His grandparents in White Plains always made sure to have a supply of cured meats, olives, cheeses and crusty bread during their weekend visits. But it wasn’t until his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, when he was 16 that his passion for food really began. It was there that he joined the German Club, whose partnership with Johnson & Wales University first introduced him to cooking.

Keep ReadingShow less