At Pizza Palace Of Newtown—
 Come As A Customer, Leave As A Friend
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Whether in the mood for anything from a burger to prime rib, to soup and ...
Jason Varney and Brea Passero
An August 2010 wedding is being planned for Brea Rose Passero, daughter of Rose and Richard Passero of Newtown, and Jason Ant...
Warren R. Hull, Sr
Retired State DEP Employee
Warren R. Hull, Sr, 86, of Southport, died May 27, at St Vincent’s Medical Center. Born in Southp...
The United States Achievement Academy announced recently that Newtown Middle School eighth grader Tommy Gleason, son of Pam and Bob Gleason, has been named an A...
Saturday, June 5
Kids for Canines Celebration Day, 10:30 am to noon, Newtown Dog Pound, Ethan Allen Road (behind transfer station), donations welcome, face...
George W. Houghton
US Army WWII Veteran
George W. Houghton, 86, died with family by his side, May 27. Born in East Long Meadow, Mass., May 21, 1924, he was...
Confused
To the Editor:
It seems voting No for the budget doesn’t really mean No anymore. How are we supposed to vote if we want the town budget low...
Voting Yes On June 8
To the Editor:
After voting No at each of the past two referendums, I will be voting Yes on Tuesday, June 8.
My decision comes after the Le...
Education Is The Answer
To the Editor:
I’d like to thank The Bee for giving Newtown’s citizenry a place to air their thoughts and opinio...
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!