Torrington BOE must be held accountable

Over the last several months, I have read with interest many stories in your newspaper concerning the Torrington school system.

A sampling of these articles covered the topics of the closing of East School and the resulting redistricting of students, dismissal of the middle school principal for addressing special education non-compliance issues, the suspension with pay of the director of student Sservices for failing to perform her job adequately, and most recently, the budget increase being considered by the Board of Education.

The budget season has begun and parents, City Council members, Board of Finance members and ayor need to get answers from the Board of Education on some serious questions before considering an increase.

The taxpayers of Torrington should not be asked to contribute more to the city school system when it appears to have been so badly managed over the last several years. My comments are not directed at the superintendent, as much as they are at the Board of Education members and the leadership of that board.

Last November’s elections brought four new members to the board, but unfortunately I have not seen any efforts to make a positive change in the direction of the district —a direction that is very disappointing to someone who cares about the quality of education in our community.

The closing of East School brings up an interesting questions. Exactly what did the residents and students of Torrington gain from the closing of this school? The board failed to maintain the school for many years, and then claimed the school needed too many renovations to remain open. I have no memory of parents complaining about the building, at least to the extent that it had to be closed. The parents, staff and children loved their school.

Once the decision to close the school was made, it was revealed that the actual savings would be minimal. In fact, the additional busing costs of $350,000 created by the redistricting exceeded the savings of closing the school. A possible solution to this problem, raised at a recent board meeting, was to make small elementary school children walk to designated pickup points — a definite step backward in terms of child safety in the times in which we currently live.

The closing of East School also raises concerns regarding the increased number of students in the remaining schools. The elimination of 16 elementary school teaching positions will lead directly to an increased number of students in each classroom. The classrooms will be at their maximum capacity. The district has not figured out where to place the pre-K programs, which may lead to additional cost with the need to rent space. Additionally, the board of education has not determined how to deal with its special education programs, that will also require additional classroom space.

The provision of special education services is another area in crisis in the Torrington School District. I am not talking about the cost of out-placing students with severe needs. This is a very real challenge that every school district faces. My concern is about what appears to be efforts by school district leadership to intentionally violate plans agreed upon by administrators and special need parents. It was a complaint by the newly hired middle school principal, about the districts practices in this area, which led to her dismissal just months after she was hired.

The director of student services, who is responsible for special education districtwide, was placed on paid leave after the story about the principal became public. Her role, along with the superintendent’s, placed them both in questionable positions. The budget issue is that the director of student services was placed on paid leave in October 2017 and is still getting paid.

In February, the school district hired a temporary director of student services at $530 a day. So we now have two people being paid for the same position. Only one of them actually working.

From October 2017 through February, the Torrington School District had no active director of student services for special needs services, as required by the state. Could the fact the school district is undergoing a districtwide on-site special education audit by the State Department of Education audit, due to complaints by parents and others, have anything to do with this recent hiring?

Could it be that pending litigation against the school district is the reason the board has not terminated the original director of student services? Such an action could look bad for the district in court. Again, the taxpayers, parents and above all the students are negatively impacted by bad leadership.

The school board is now considering the creation of an alternative high school program outside of Torrington High School. This is not a new idea in Torrington. Such a program existed at the old Southeast School for years and was moved to the high school in the late 1980s to save the district money, along with the hope of integrating the students as much as possible into the regular high school program.

The newly proposed program will bring additional costs to the district. A district so short on cash it closed a school. The closing of East School actually saved the district nothing, but has created a lot of new problems.

Someone needs to hold the Board of Education responsible for their questionable decisions. The best time for other public officials of our city to make a statement is during the budget process. I hope the discouraging path the Torrington School District is following can be changed for the good of the children, the taxpayers and our community as a whole.

David W. Reynolds is a resident of Torrington. He previously served on the Torrington Board of Education, Torrington City Council, Middle School Building Committee and the High School Renovation Committee.