Sarah Ann      Lee
Sarah Ann (Root) Lee, 57, of Monroe, died November 27 at St Vincent Medical Center.
Ms Lee was born in Burlington, Vt., on April 5, 19...
Armory Plans Dropped—
National Guard Starts Military Kennel Project
By Andrew Gorosko
Demolition work required for the planned construction of a mi...
Route 302 DUI
Police said they received a report concerning possible drunken driving about 8 am November 27 on Route 302, near its intersection with Head O...
Lions Club Spearheads Effort
To Replace ETH Theatre Seats
The Tercentennial Committee, working hard to bring many activities to Newtown in 2005, has also been u...
Corrections
A photo caption from last week’s story about a local presentation of The Nutcracker Suite incorrectly identified one of the Newtown perf...
Newtown’s Helping Hands —
Holiday Basket Program Is Newtown Fund’s Premier Activity
By John Voket
Of course there is a Santa...
CCS ‘Fanfares’ Will Continue 25th Anniversary Season
DANBURY — The Connecticut Choral Society (CCS), which is celebrating it...
Dear Missing: As a breeder I’ve had one puppy returned in such a situation. I once sold a young male pup to a couple that didn’t liv...
Heather E.     Heyburn
Heather E. Heyburn, 35, of Waterbury, died unexpectedly November 26 at her parents’ home in Middle Granville, N.Y.
Heat...
Police Launch Their Seasonal
‘Mitten Tree’ Project
As they have for the past several years, town police will again conduct their â€...
Unfortunately as voter turnout continues to decline the chances of it increasing also decline. The LC and BOF already know that the budget will be approved by virtue of the low turnout so why try to make smart decisions? The so-called referendum is essentially just a rubber stamp. They will continue to increase the budget by 2-5% every year because it's low enough to not cause a pushback under the cover of "inflation" and "maintaining the schools." Sending the budget to vote with 9% turnout is meaningless and a waste of resources on April 23rd.
I have seen Mr. Pisani repeatedly assert in the pages of the Bee that Newtown schools are "testing at a failing 64.9%". I'd be curious if he could elaborate on this statistic, as I have been unable to verify it independently. Which test exactly is our school system failing? How do our schools compare to other towns? How does our score compare to historical measures? It's very hard to draw conclusions from a single data point, so here are a few more data points to think about for context: Newtown is consistently ranked among the top 20 school districts in CT by the US News and World Report and Niche, which consider a range of performance metrics in their rankings; on average, Newtown students perform similar to, if not better than, students in neighboring school districts on standardized math and reading tests; the only data point on the CT Department of Education District Report Card where Newtown "fails" -- that is, falls behind the state average -- is access to art instruction. I'm glad the council member has acknowledged in this letter what taxpayers in high-performing (and high-spending) school districts like Darien, New Canaan, and Westport already know: "School funding does impact student achievement." Please keep that in mind when you vote this week!