A Community

That Believes In Its Future

To the Editor:

For as many years as I have been chairperson of the Board of Education, I have asked the citizens of Newtown to support our schools and our town by voting Yes on referendum day. This year my plea is particularly significant.

In the coming months the Board of Education will begin a national search to replace Superintendent Evan Pitkoff. This is a monumental task which will require considerable time and effort: we will hire a search firm and begin a series of focus groups to assess our needs and determine our direction; we will evaluate qualified candidates based on a district profile; and finally, we will hold formal interviews and select our next educational leader. It goes without saying that any savvy candidate for superintendent would be wise to be informed on the myriad happenings in our town. That prospective applicant might begin by reading The Newtown Bee or perhaps by “Googling” Newtown, Connecticut.

It is my sincere hope that when our next educational leader seeks information about our town, he or she will read about a community that believes in its future and willingly endorses it. They will find a place where a commitment to education is supported with positive thinking and appropriate resources, and where the collective good is a foremost priority. When you consider the upcoming referendum, please remember that we are all stakeholders and that voting Yes is an investment in the quality of life that we hold dear. As a town, we’ve got a lot of work to do; let’s begin by supporting our budget on Tuesday, May 8, and telling all prospective superintendents that Newtown is a community united!

Elaine McClure

Chairperson

Board of Education

32 Ashford Lane, Newtown                                                 May 2, 2007