Around The Horn — Fall Ball Results
Newtown Rebels 12 Newtown Destroyers 7: Rebels relief pitchers Brandon Marks, Ben Stoller and Ryan Daignault...
Angelina DiNapoli Bowder
Former Resident
Angelina DiNapoli Bowder, 93, of Shelton, formerly of Newtown, died September 27. Born October 12, 1914, in Stamfo...
Hawley Students Kick Off School-Wide Reading Program
By Eliza Hallabeck
Students from each grade at Hawley School assembled together in the gym to hear the answ...
Newtown Support Groups
Friday, October 3Â Â Â Â Â Â
AA, Newtown United Methodist Church, 92 Church Hill Road, 8 pm, beginners meeting, open discussion.
...
For police reports
Pickup Truck
Police report that at about 7:41 pm October 1, motorist Kurt Olsen, 44, of Mahopac, N.Y., was driving a 1987 Chevrolet pick...
Hooked Rug Show Returning Saturday
The 7th Annual Newtown Hooked Rug Show will be held in the cafetorium of Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane in Newtown, ...
Alzheimer’s Support Group
Meeting Set
SOUTHBURY — An open and on-going support group for friends and family of people with Alzheimerâ&#...
Misplaced Blame
To the Editor:
If Democrat Christopher Lyddy’s proposal to establish a commission to study ways to reform statewide property taxes s...
Honda Off Road
Motorist James Hilton, 18, of 2 Sealand Drive was driving a 1996 Honda Accord sedan southward on Walnut Tree Hill Road about 7:34 am Septemb...
Reaffirm Our Support
For Schools
To the Editor:
Don’t you love to hear those stories about what your grandparents used to pay for this or that way ...
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!