Put The School Board Under

Finance Board Control

To the Editor:

Methinks he doth protest too much.

Following questions by our finance board chairman, John Kortze, to the school board regarding the school board’s $1.7 million surplus, the board protested loudly. While the board complained strongly about Mr Kortze questioning their surplus, they offered absolutely no information to the public in their own defense. When The Bee asked for their comments about the surplus, they gave none. And, following an article in The Bee on June 16, the school board mysteriously transferred $615,000 of the $1.7 million surplus without explanation. The school board then refused to meet with the town’s finance board to discuss the matter. In addition, the school board previously refused to provide The Bee with any information regarding a secret meeting it held late last year regarding a challenge to Ms McClure’s leadership role within the school board. This forced The Bee to pursue this information via the state’s Freedom of Information act. And, by the way, why does the school board continue to refuse to make the Evaluation and Accreditation Report by the NEASC of Newtown’s schools public?

All of these questions can only leave the taxpayers of Newtown wondering why so much money was requested by the school board in the town’s last round of budget referendums when they subsequently pull $1.7 million magically out of their hat. Since virtually all of our tax dollars go toward the education of our children and it is obvious that our school board cannot be trusted, it is time that they fall under the direct control of our Board of Finance. This is the only way the taxpayers of Newtown can truly understand what is currently going on behind the school board’s closed doors. If the school board has nothing to hide, then they should stop being defensive when questioned about their finances and come clean. If the school board is unwilling to meet with our finance board or provide any information to the public, then they are no longer acting in the best interests of the Newtown taxpayers and they should be required to fall under the direct control of our Board of Finance.

Phil Dinielli

9 Copper Creek Circle, Newtown                                   June 28, 2006

(Editor’s note: The evaluation and accreditation report on Newtown High School by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) is posted on the Newtown school district’s website at www.newtown.k12.ct.us/files/pages/district/NEASC.pdf.)