Residents of Norfolk and Colebrook offered a mix of thoughtful opinions about the possible consolidation of elementary school services during a public forum at Botelle School Thursday night.
There have been two previous failed attempts to merge the schools, which have both experienced declining enrollments over the past two decades. Norfolk has 62 students in kindergarten through grade six, while Colebrook has 64 in six grades. In the last attempt, in 2015, Norfolk voted for merger and Colebrook against.
That balance appears to continue until today. “Colebrook has told us repeatedly that they do not want to send their children to Norfolk,” Norfolk School Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli said before the meeting, but municipal leaders in both towns have resumed discussions.
Norfolk First Selectman Matt Riiska said the potential partnership is about expanding social and educational opportunities for “our children and generations to come,” but many members of the audience rejected the idea of closing one or other of the schools. One young girl made an impassioned speech about how much she loves Botelle School. “I don’t want them to close the school because it is very special to us students,” she said.
Parents echoed her sentiments, offering testimony recounting their happy years at Botelle and the experiences their own children are enjoying there. They decried statements that Botelle does not provide a good education, saying these comments are detrimental to both town and school.
Colebrook residents had similar feelings about their school. One woman who described herself as an educator and coach, said, “The last thing we want to do is close a school. That should be the last priority. Having two schools is beneficial because two second-grade teachers can bounce ideas off each other, but if you have one second grade there is no one to talk to. We all want the best for our kids. What ways can we work to save money?”
Andy Bakulski, educator, parent and Colebrook resident, advocated for consolidation. “If we combined resources, working in one space and not supporting two buildings, we could greatly improve the education and opportunities for our children,” he said. “We’re talking about 120 or so students, so class sizes would still be very manageable. The possibilities are fantastic, but we do need to involve everyone.”
Feelings have run deep each time consolidation or collaboration has been discussed but this time several people suggested gradual steps to combine district tasks. Norfolk school board member Walter Godlewski noted that the two towns are now paying for duplicate services.
“Our superintendent is resigning, perhaps we could have a joint superintendent,” he suggested. “Perhaps we could have the lower [grades] in one town and the upper grades in the other—maybe we could do that for four or five years. We could get used to having our children go to another town and maybe then we talk about it and decide it’s in our best interest to close one of these schools. I would like to see us think big and long-term, in slow and progressive steps.”
Riiska said the committee would meet sometime in the coming weeks to continue the discussion. A recording of the meeting is online; for a link and the password, click here.