Dear Editor,
I write this to the voters to remind you to vote on May 15th, from 2-9 at your local elementary school. I especially hope that you are planning to vote for me and Cybele Nielsen, but regardless, please take the time to cast your ballot. If you are still undecided, I invite you to come to the Meet the Candidate night on May 10th , at 7:00 pm at the HS/MS auditorium, moderated by the League of Women Voters.
There is a lot to consider before casting your ballot. Did the incumbents represent the whole district when they voted for the “bookend” plan? The answer is no. By voting for the bookend plan, the board chose to divert resources into maintaining a building
instead of programs in the high school and middle school. At the same time, they did not address the fact that we have too much space for our declining enrollment. In rushing the vote (especially when compared to nearby districts) the board chose to, as Mr. Fletcher has said, focus on “broad” issues and work out the details later,
including such “details” as transportation. These are very important decisions that will impact our children on a daily basis, and I for one resent that my child’s well-being is being treated as an afterthought.
I am running because a school board cannot properly represent its district if it does not hear what is being said throughout that district. This district is large, but not so large that the board can’t consider the impact of its decisions on each area. Or that the
board cannot acknowledge the degree of upheaval, chaos and dissatisfaction its vote on the reconfiguration has caused. The incumbents paint a rosy picture, but I’ve spoken with many people who don’t share that view. The incumbents continue to ignore those voices that disagree with them, as shown by their support for the
superintendent’s new contract. To vote for a new contract in the face of the uproar directed against the (now abandoned) proposed music schedule changes, the voices of many in the district was shut out.
There are those who choose to persist in their mistaken belief that my sole purpose in running for the board is to shut down the Phoenicia school. I reiterate that I have no intention of doing so. My reason is simple. There is enough uncertainty and I do not want to add to it. Unlike the incumbents, I am aware of the chaos and utter
frustration that parents in Olive are living with. My focus is to make sure that the transition goes smoothly, but, unlike the incumbents, with an eye to the whole district.
As a staff attorney for Connecticut Legal services I represented people who had no voice. We are a district in which many feel like they too have lost that voice. As a President of a synagogue board I spent a lot of time listening to the different voices speaking up. I am asking for your vote on May 15th because it is time for new voices
on the school board. Voices that will work to represent the whole district and make sure that no one is left out.
Rebecca L. Balza
