The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘It’s no longer productive’
Winchester board sees no need for contract with Gilbert school board
WINSTED — Dickering over a contract isn’t as important as providing quality education, according to a Winchester Board of Education official.
Since last fall, members of the Gilbert and Winchester school boards have attempted to agree on a contract between them with details overseeing financial decisions, designations and other responsibilities.
But in early 2021, contract negotiations between the two school entities broke down, and Winchester board members decided not to pursue more talks.
“They walked away, and we were at an impasse,” said Gilbert School Superintendent Anthony Serio. “They ended the discussions. We thought we gave them an offer, but they didn’t feel that way about it.”
Doug Pfennenger, chairman of the Winchester Board of Education, said there were more important things to work on between the two school boards than
a contract.
“The important thing to remember is that a lot of students are attending Gilbert; there’s no other alternative for them,” Pfennenger said. “The success of Gilbert is important, and we are committed to the school.”
This year’s proposed tuition budget from Gilbert totals $7.345 million, and includes capital improvements. Pfennenger indicated that the financial part of the two schools’ relationship has always been challenging.
“We also know that the Gilbert School Corp. can charge whatever they deem is reasonable,” Pfennenger said. “We’ll pay the tuition. More importantly, though, we believe we should pay on a per-pupil basis. The other two endowed academies in Connecticut (Norwich Free Academy and Woodstock Academy) each serve a number of other districts, but Gilbert only serves us, and we pay 95 percent of their costs.
“We also have four of nine seats on the Gilbert School Corp. board, even though we pay the bills,” he said. “That’s not going to change. So in many ways, spending endless hours negotiating a contract is not important for us. Curriculum and quality instruction is where our priorities lie.”
The Gilbert School recently hired New Milford High School Principal Greg Shugrue as its new head of school. Shugrue has served New Milford High School for 16 years. After the announcement was made on March 16, Gilbert said he will begin his new job July 1, a day after Serio retires.
Pfennenger is looking forward to working with the new head of school.
“We all look forward to working with Mr. Shugrue,” he said. “We’re very proud of what we’ve done with the Winchester schools, and we’re looking forward to sharing that.”
As far as any further contract talks are concerned, Pfennenger said they weren’t worth it.
“It’s no longer productive for us to do those negotiations,” he said, adding that he wants both boards to have “a mutually beneficial relationship.”
“It’s important for both boards to come to terms with that . ... A contract is just a small piece of that,” he said. “Most of the relationship issues can occur outside a written document.”