The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
School district strikes contract with Gilbert
Tuition: $6.48 million annually
A new contract between the Winchester Public Schools and The Gilbert School has been completed, according to Receiver Freeman Burr and Superintendent Anthony Serio, pending approval from attorneys and the Gilbert School Corporation.
The agreement is for two years, Serio said Friday, with Gilbert
serving as the designated high school for that period.
Tuition for the 2018 fiscal year will stand at $6.48 million, Serio said, which is what the two parties agreed on in April.
If the amount of funding set aside in the “Town Support for Education” line item is changed from the current $330,000 mark for the 2019 budget, the tuition payment to Gilbert would be reduced from that $6.48 million figure, according to Serio.
“My hope and belief is the town will continue to support education at a higher level of funding,” said Serio.
The Gilbert School Corporation, the governing board of the semi-private institution, is set to vote on the potential agreement on June 20, Serio said.
Burr praised the collaborative nature of the process in a statement Friday.
“We are extremely pleased that we have reached agreement on the Contract and Special Education MOU (memorandum of understanding) with The Gilbert School leadership. The process was very collaborative and we look forward to the Gilbert Board ratifying the agreements and affirming the efforts of both parties,” said Burr. “I believe this agreement sets the stage for a renewed collaboration between the Winchester Public Schools and Gilbert in the best interest of all Winchester students in the future.”
The Winchester Public Schools have been operating without a contract with Gilbert since June 30, 2015.
The state assumed oversight of the town schools in August 2015, with negotiations continuing through the tenures of then-receiver Robert Travaglini and Burr.
Points of agreement had been reached in recent months, including in March, when Burr noted that the state had verbally committed to Serio not to send students in seventh-grade through high school to other institutions — a point of concern for parents in the past.
On May 25, when Melony Brady-Shanley was named the new superintendent of schools for Winchester, Burr said a contract could be reached soon after the Memorial Day holiday.
He said at the time that he expected the district to exit receivership on Aug. 1, which would mark the end of the two-year period laid out in the legislation that put town schools under state control.