By Jarret Liotta
Moving quickly to generate feedback, the Board of Education officially put the Community Advisory Group into place Thursday night with the aim of getting consensus on how the town should respond to the crisis at Coleytown Middle School (CMS).
Though several slots are still open, the group is scheduled to hold its first public work session Sunday at 5 p.m. in Town Hall, at which time a series of possible options will be presented by Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer regarding the future of CMS and its students.
Among the members in place are teachers John Horrigan of CMS, who is also co-president of the Westport Education Association, and Jeanne Bowles of Saugatuck Elementary School (SES). Both are also Westport residents.
The three PTA members included Elena Caggiano, representing Staples High School’s PTA, Lee Goldstein, CMS co-president, representing the middle schools, and Amie Peck, PTA co-president at SES.
Don O’Day, past chairman of the Board of Education, will be the at-large community member without children in the schools, along with Westporter Liz Blasko.
Other members will include Vanessa Valdares, representing the Townwide Maintenance Committee, Adam Rosen, principal at Bedford Middle School, representing the secondary-level school administrators, and Joe Strickland of the Public Site & Building Committee.
“We are pleased with the responses we’ve had from the community in participating in the Board of Education’s Community Advisory Committee … to advise and make recommendations to the (board) on the use of our town’s educational system and facilities,” said Chairman Mark Mathias.
He said more than 100 emails were received from potential volunteers.
“This is a testament to the importance and engagement of our residents,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to serving on the committee,” Horrigan said.
“We just hope that we can come up with a viable solution as soon as possible so we can start planning on how we’ll get through the next couple of years,” he said.
“This year has been extremely stressful on the teachers and the students,” he said, echoing the feelings of many residents.
“We don’t blame the administration, because we don’t feel it’s their fault, but it’s very hard,” he said.
Horrigan noted that the two main issues were the long-term look at the school’s facilities and where CMS students would be housed going forward.
“That’s going to take a lot more time and a lot more conversations with the whole community to decide,” he said of the facilities.
“The immediate problem is how do we absorb these almost 500 students and teachers into the existing facilities … That’s a huge challenge,” he said.
“This year has been challenging but now we have an opportunity to work together as a community to figure out the best educational system for our students next fall and beyond,” Goldstein said.
“These decisions affect the future landscape of Westport’s crown jewel — our schools,” she said.
“A townwide committee allows us to have all stakeholders around the table to discuss the issues,” Goldstein said, “explore alternatives, make well-thought-out decisions, and provide transparency to the public.”
A representative for the preschool community and one representing special education needs are yet to be appointed, along with an elementary school administrator, and two at-large community members who have children in the school system.
The committee has been asked to make a recommendation to the Board of Education by Dec. 10 about what they are going to do for next year’s education plan.
