Region 7: Norfolk, Colebrook revisit consolidation

NORFOLK — Faced with a diminishing student population, Norfolk town officials are once again looking into the consolidation of Norfolk and Colebrook schools.

“This comes to light every year at budget time. The school budget is $2.4 million. This year there are 64 students at Botelle, next year there will be 56 students,” Norfolk First Selectman Matt Riiska said.

“Currently, Botelle has four combined classes from pre-K to 6th grade. If you have a class size of six, how much social interaction are you having? It’s an issue across the board. There’s been a lot of discussion about combining classes, and if that’s the best teaching method. There are a lot of negative comments about it, but it obviously serves a purpose.”

Riiska met recently with  Mike Sconyers and Nina Ritson from the Board of Finance, Virginia Coleman from the Board of Education, and two attorneys from the state Department of Education to discuss how consolidation might work.

“There are multiple ways. One is a cooperative agreement between Colebrook and Norfolk, which is regulated by state statute 10-158a, an agreement between Norfolk and Colebrook’s Board of Ed, in which they’d say we’d like you to come up with a figure to send kids to Colebrook on a tuition basis, paid through local taxes. We’d still retain some status with the Board of Ed, so there’d be some oversight with Norfolk Board of Education.

“The second option is a consolidation between Colebrook and Norfolk. That’s a longer process with a lot of paperwork with the Department of Education. There’s a lot to hash out because you’re combining two schools. Colebrook voted it down eight years ago.”

“Then it would be a question of which school site would better serve the students. Obviously both towns would like to retain both schools. Norfolk’s is in very good condition.”

“In the first agreement, we’d be sending students to Colebrook, but with the cooperative agreement, we could have students from North Canaan or even Winsted. I’m not sure how that’d work; we’d have to come up with tuition.”

Board of Education member Ann DeCerbo said, “The focus of the Norfolk Board of Ed is the quality of education for our students. Our board constantly considers and evaluates real-world solutions – including but not limited to consolidation.  It is important to note, though, that consolidation doesn’t solve the educational, social, and financial issues facing Norfolk.  It does feel clear, however, that not having a home-town school would not be helpful for attracting families to our town.”

“Cooperation with Colebrook is not something new. Botelle already cooperates with Colebook on a regular basis through combined field trips, cultural and social programming, professional development, and in a myriad of other informal collaborative ways,” she added.

Board of Education member John DeShazo said “We are looking into ways to make Botelle thrive, given what we have the power to do as a board.  One idea that was raised at our last board meeting, which can be viewed online, is augmenting our existing curriculum with an after school program that could offer students more specific, deeper learning in STEM subjects and the arts.  We already have a maker space and we have had EdAdvance facilitate Personal Interest Projects (PIPS) at Botelle, and we are looking into ways to expand those programs.

“The board’s focus is on making the education at Botelle the best education that we can provide.  We are all stakeholders in the school.  We should all be working to do what we can to make Botelle an outstanding school.”

Asked further about financing the additional cost per student, Riiska said “Mike Sconyers and I were just at the Regional 7 Board of Education meeting. Their per pupil cost is about $25,500. You’d work that out through funds raised through taxes just like our regular Board of Education budget and we’d still have to maintain our school as a town.”

One critical factor is that the school population has dropped drastically. At one time Botelle had 250 students.

“Thirty years ago when my daughter was there, there were 140 kids. Part of that is the cost of homes and rentals. We have a huge issue with lack of affordable inventory. It’s all connected, you can’t talk about one thing without the other,” Riiska said.

Quality jobs are also a factor in attracting families with children to Norfolk. “There are jobs out there but how well they pay is another question,” Riiska says.

Currently, the prospect of further consolidation is still tentative and nothing has  been decided.

The Board of Education will meet again next week, and the discussion will continue. Critical questions regarding costs, best use of funds, and working with a tight budget remain in play. “It’s a long discussion; there’s no magic wand,” Riiska said.

Latest News

Bobbie C. Palmer

LAKEVILLE ­— Bobbie C. Palmer, born in Lakeville on Jan. 13, 1948, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife, Marva J. Palmer, son Marc (Sandra) Palmer, daughter Erica (Fleming) Wilson, two grandchildren, Andrew Yost and Ciara Wilson, and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Francis Palmer and four brothers; Henry Palmer, William Palmer, John Palmer and Walter Palmer Jr.

He leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness, and laughter that will be cherished by his family and those closest to him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Finding ‘The Right Stuff’ for a documentary

Tom Wolfe

Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber

If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.

Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Art on view this March

“Untitled” by Maureen Dougherty

New Risen

While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.

At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caught on Camera: Our wildlife neighbors

Clockwise from upper left: Wildlife more rarely caught by trail cameras at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies: great blue heron, river otters, a bull moose, presenter and wildlife biologist Michael Fargione, a moose cow, and a barred owl.

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

‘You don’t need to go to Africa or Yellowstone to see the real-life world of nature. There are life and death struggles in your wood lot and backyard,” said Michael Fargione, wildlife biologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, during his lecture “Caught on Camera: Our Wildlife Neighbors.”

He showed a video of two bucks recorded them displaying their antlers, then challenging each other with a clash of antlers, which ended with one buck running off. The victor stood and pawed the ground in victory.

Keep ReadingShow less