Lee Farm Drive, Southbury
Justin Moser purchased property at 2 Lee Farm Drive in Southbury from Elizabeth Toth.
Barbara Licursi of Advanced Real Estate sold the...
By Kim J. Harmon
If one of the most maddening things is sports is to watch a big lead evaporate late in game, then coaches, players and fans of Newtown High Sch...
The Ram Pasture’s
‘Sitting’ Ducks And Geese
To the Editor:
I am very concerned about the abandoned ducks and geese living at...
Mary Chabina Rusko
Mary Chabina Rusko, 83, of Newtown, formerly of Darien, died December 22 in Danbury Hospital. She was the wife of the late Nicholas M. Rusko....
Richard Raino
Richard “Rail” Raino, 45, of Waterbury, previously of Stratford, beloved son of Helen (McNally) Raino of Bridgeport and th...
Happy 2004 everyone! Let’s hope it is a great year –– at least as good as last year and far better than some notoriously bad...
‘Christmas In Rome’ At
Knights Of Columbus Museum
NEW HAVEN — The theme of the third annual Christmas Tree Festival at New H...
It’s the time of year when we at The Bee are looking forward to celebrating the first Newtown baby born in the year 2004.
As usual, merchants from ...
Motorcycle Found
Police report that a red Honda motorcycle was found abandoned on December 29 on the side of Hanover Road beneath the Interstate 84 overpas...
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!