No members of the public spoke about the proposed 2019-20 school district spending plan during the public hearing portion of the Board of Education’s January 30 meeting.
Head O’ Meadow Elementary School second graders gathered around Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop of Hamden educator and curriculum developer Andrew Sargent in the school’s cafetorium on January 25 to learn about birds.
Newtown Public Schools has announced all after school and evening events are being canceled for Tuesday, January 29, due to winter weather expected to move into the area.
Continuing its review of the superintendent’s proposed 2019-20 spending plan, the Board of Education took a closer look at different parts of the budget at its January 22 meeting.
A new Video Club is being offered for third grade students at Middle Gate Elementary School this school year, and students in it are learning the basics of using the iMovie program on iPads.
Dear Alyssa, Kelela, and Brandon,
We send our sincere sympathy to you and your family. We will also keep you in our prayers asking our Lord to grant you comfort and peace.
With love,
Vince and Sandy Venitelli
Bruce, your advice that voters should “read, listen, and engage” would be much more persuasive if you practiced it yourself.
You campaigned on openness and responsiveness. You declared that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government” and promised to answer constituent inquiries within two days. Yet you never answered my straightforward public question about Main Street demonstrations, traffic disruption, pedestrian safety, and the effects on local businesses.
After taking office, meaningful public engagement has largely been replaced by “Brews with Bruce” at the Senior Center—requiring reservations and, for some residents, a day pass. That is not accessible, townwide engagement. Previous first selectmen held open coffee hours and walk-and-talk sessions that any resident could attend.
Then came the failed storm communications, your apology, and another promise to communicate better—followed shortly afterward by more silence while multiple police agencies conducted a significant search near Saw Mill Road.
You now tell voters to examine what candidates say and “how they say it.” I would suggest going one step further: compare what politicians promise while seeking office with what they actually do after winning.
Your record presents a stark contrast. You told voters exactly what they wanted to hear to get the job, then failed to live by those promises. Whether that is dishonesty or simply indifference, it is the same familiar, two-faced politics you once claimed you would replace.
Nothing says “I care about Newtown homeowners” quite like lining Main Street with plywood campaign billboards—apparently built just inches below the size at which officials say they can take action. At this rate, we’ll need property-tax relief just to offset the loss in curb appeal.
