Anger, Frustration, And The Way Forward

The Board of Education put the finishing touches on a five-year transportation contract with All-Star Transportation of Torrington in a closed session Tuesday night, and then approved the pact. First, however, they were confronted once again by angry supporters of the town’s current school bus owner-operators, who had repeatedly tried and failed to sway the school board from its determined course to abandon the school transportation system that had been in place in Newtown since 1934.

The handling of this issue marks, in our view, a new low in public relations for the Board of Education. Rarely does one see elected officials so stubbornly resisting so wide a community consensus on any issue. The anger and frustration of the public became so palpable that the school board, on occasion, summoned police officers to stand by. The irony was not lost on the public. Who needed protection more in their confrontations, the school board or the townspeople?

To make things worse, the school administrators who were seen as the main instigators of the owner-operators’ demise were awarded new three-year contracts, complete with salary hikes and increases in fringe benefits — including transportation reimbursements. And in a stunning display of political tone deafness in a time of acute financial distress for so many families in town, the superintendent of schools felt compelled to solicit sympathy by pointing out that with a $174,180 annual salary, she was the lowest paid superintendent in Fairfield County. To think that that is somehow a winning argument in a town already seething at school officials who do not seem to be paying attention is the very definition of out of touch.

The traditional remedy when elected officials are out of sync with their constituents is an election. Only one school board incumbent is seeking reelection this year, so there may not be enough of that remedy to cure what ails constituents this year. Notwithstanding the presence of peace officers at a public meeting, voter anger and frustration are not the problem. They are symptoms of problems, and like every other municipality across the nation, Newtown is facing fiscal problems requiring community cooperation and engagement, not insularity and alienation.

More important than the political shakeout from the Board of Education’s public relations fiasco, more important than who wins or loses contracts, and more important even than how all the bills get paid in these challenging times is our commitment to educational excellence. The Board of Education needs to recognize that schools suffer and fail without community support. The public needs to recognize that school systems cannot be run by filling meeting rooms with vitriol or by townwide referendum. School board members may be volunteers, but that does not necessarily mean they lack expertise. Only through mutual recognition, and appreciation, can the most important work begin.