Rotary Club speech contest winner Jacob Meisel (r) gets congratulations today from fellow Staples High School student Maddie Kurtz (c) as Catherine Coughlin (l) is announced as the runner up at the Westport Town Hall Rotary Club speech contest today. Meisel, 14, won $500 for his talk on climate control, Coughlin, 17, won $400 for her talk about Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights era, and Kurtz, also 17, won $300 for her critical talk about Wall Street bonuses. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Judges for today’s Rotary Four-Way Speech Contest at Westport Town Hall included (l-r) David Pogue, New York Times tech columnist; Maxine Bleiweis, director, Westport Public Library; Dianne Wildman, Cablevision Connecticut editorial director; Lois Schine, member, Representative Town Meeting, and Ken Bernhard, attorney. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Staples High School was among 16 Connecticut high schools cited for excellence in a survey released today by U.S. News and World Report.

Staples won a silver medal in the rankings, as did high schools in Weston, Wilton, Darien, New Canaan, Redding and Ridgefield. However, Greenwich did not appear on the list.

The assessment analyzed 21,786 public high schools in 48 states plus the District of Columbia.

In October, Connecticut Magazine ranked Staples No. 1 high school in the state. (See WestportNow Oct. 23, 2009).

A discussion about school finances tonight showed varied opinions on the value of keeping taxes low or spending enough to keep up the quality of Westport’s schools.

Members of Westport’s Board of Finance traveled to Staples High School to meet with Board of Education members about the 2010-2011 education and town budget.

The session came a month after municipal elections that saw one new member elected to each board

Board of Education Chairman Donald O’Day set the tone for the discussion by saying “keeping things the same will mean a $2.5 million increase.”

An education consultant told the Westport Board of Education tonight that the town’s elementary enrollment could drop off sharply over the next few years.

However, Donald G. Kennedy of the New England School Development Council, known as NESDEC, said the pattern could reverse itself quickly depending on a number of factors, especially the economy.

“Will you lose?’” he asked. “Maybe, maybe not…these are strange economic times.”

Kennedy said based on his analysis, Westport’s middle school population will likely remain the same while the high school population will continue to increase.