The following is a letter to the editor submitted last week to the New Milford Spectrum.
June
24, 2014
To
the Editor:
Shame
on you, Mayor Murphy, and the Republican members of the New Milford
Board of Education board. We watched last week as five Republican
school board members, with Mayor Murphy by their side, voted to close
Pettibone school after the next school year.
They
did this knowing that the public was overwhelmingly opposed to this
action. They did this after four public hearings at which the public
spoke out vehemently against closing the school. They did this
knowing that nearly 400 people signed a petition to keep the school
open. They did this at the urging of Mayor Murphy. They did this
despite evidence to the contrary that birth rates are going up. Only
one Republican member voted to save the school, along with the 3
Democratic members of the board.
The
children have no say in this. But the children will have to endure
hour-long bus rides to schools that will be farther away. The
Mayor’s slash-and-burn budgeting has meant that children go
without, teaching staff is stretched, and now it will be worse.
Without
a strong school system, the children suffer. Our property values go
down, and our taxes go up. People who think about moving to this town
may reconsider when they become aware of the town's anti-school
attitude . People who want to sell their homes will have to wait even
longer for buyers.
These
are the school board members who voted to close Pettibone School:
Daniele
Shook
Dave
Littlefield
Angela
Chastain
Theresa
Volinski
Wendy
Faulenbach
They
were supported by most of the Republican members of the Town Council
who spoke out publicly in favor of closing the school. When these
candidates are up for re-election, should they choose to run, all
registered voters in New Milford should vote these people out of
office for they did not serve the people of New Milford, and they
failed the children of this town.
Andy
Grossman
Peter
Mullen
Mary
Jane Lundgren
Paul
Garlasco
Adrienne
Aurichio
The
undersigned represent the Executive Committee of the Democratic Town
Committee. A majority of the DTC supported this letter.
