To The Editor:

I want to compliment and thank the Future Forecast Committee, Dr Erardi, and the many people who spent hundreds of hours in reaching a wise and prudent recommendation to close Newtown Middle School.

I would like to point out, though, there has been an ongoing decline of over 1,200 students enrolled in the system since 2006/2007, when the student population was 5,668, and the school budget was $60,387,154.

Now, a decade later, the school district estimates a further decline of an additional 1,000 in student enrollment, projected over the next five years. The overall decline since 2006/2007 will result in 38 percent fewer students in the system by 2020/2021, with an expenditure per student rising to over $20,000.

The plan to close Newtown Middle School and reconfigure the district's remaining schools to accommodate the educational needs of the students appears well thought out and reasonable.

I appeal to the Board of Education to accept the Future Forecast Committee's recommendations and act swiftly in implementing the plan that best serves the students, as well as the taxpayers in Newtown.

Stephen Rosenblatt

50 Watkins Drive, Sandy Hook         October 20, 2016