To the Editor:

As a member of the Sandy Hook Task Force, and also one of the representatives on the Legislative Council for the Sandy Hook district (2) I struggled to come to a decision as to what the best choice was for the future of Sandy Hook School. I believe and strongly support the decision, to build in the same location, for the following reasons.

Since Sandy Hook is our largest [elementary] school, it was never considered as a school that should be closed or consolidated into other schools. With the size of this school district, transportation would not be in the best interest of the children. The location of the school was of much discussion. It was felt by the panel that the best location would be in the same vicinity. This determination was reached because of the size of the school district (transportation) and also keeping in mind the business district.

There was much discussion regarding our decreasing student population. One of the main thoughts was that the projections show that we will not be in a position to make any decision regarding our schools for three to five years, and that is only a projection. Given the economy, if the climate continues to change then we may once again be on the upswing.

Being a strong conservative and wanting to keep our expenses in check, I feel that it is best for the future of this town to support this school. As we all know, the longer you put things off the more it costs.

Dan Wiedemann

Legislative Council District 2

13 Clearview Drive, Sandy Hook    October 2, 2013