To the Editor,
I was dismayed by DTC Chair Mr Paradis’ letter of August 19, 2021, in which he uses and manipulates another letter written in support of Mr Dan R...
To the Editor,
It’s officially campaign season in Newtown!
That time of year when we put down our cups of sugar and take up our pitchforks. When we trade our sl...
To the Editor,
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. This is a time for each of us to reach out to those around us and take steps to prevent...
To the Editor,
My name is Charlie Gardner, and I’m pleased to announce that I am running for Legislative Council in Newtown’s District 2.
My wife Kathy and I ha...
To the Editor:
I’m writing in response to a recent article about what have been described as clarifications of the conditions the Newtown Zoning Commission prev...
A t its Thursday, August 26, meeting, the Board of Finance unanimously appointed Chandravir Ahuja to the open Republican seat vacated by Matthew Mihalcik .
The ...
Masks are a contentious subject not just in Newtown but across the country, and the Legislative Council chamber became a battleground on the issue after the cou...
The Board of Finance (BOF) approved appropriations of $90,000 for adaptive playground equipment at Dickinson Park, $8 million for the planning, design, engineer...
The Newtown Health District was notified by the state Department of Public Health on Tuesday, August 31, of a positive test result for West Nile virus from the ...
Coming off an unbeaten campaign that culminated with a South-West Conference North Division championship, Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team will try ...
Newtown schools have degraded over the 3+ decades I've lived here as the concentrated social experiment curricula driven by the state and small but loud groups. Yet we continue to dig into our pockets while we witness the downward spiral.
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!