Last day of school to be set tonight

Had this forwarded to me today. I think it’s an interesting issue, but I’m pretty sure the school year should end on June 24th, despite any hardships it might create for a few. I’m not particularly worried about when camps start.

Dear friends,

The West Hartford Board of Ed will be meeting tonight, Thurs. evening (4/24).  One of the issues they will be discussing is the scheduled last day of school for the Town of West Hartford which is now Tues. June 24.  This has been rescheduled from the original date of  Friday June 20 in order to make up for our two snow days.  This schedule allows for the schools to maintain their 184 day calendar, four more than that required by the state.

Many of the camps that the West Hartford children typically attend for the summer begin prior to June 24.  This creates quite a conflict for these families.  Multiple families have said that their children will just miss the last 2 days.  Instead, the Board has the ability to forgive these 2 days in the schedule to reduce the conflict.  They have done so in the past when it has conflicted with the start of summer school.

In addition, all three town middle school graduations are now scheduled for Monday night, June 23.  In order for 8th graders to attend their graduation, they will need to miss the beginning of camp.  For some families this is not even an option due to parent work conflicts or camp restrictions.

If you have feelings regarding this issue, I ask that you consider sending an email to express them to the addresses listed below prior to the meeting on Thurs 4/24.

boardmembers@whps.org (this will then automatically forward to all 7 Board members)

tim_dunn@whps.org

david_sklarz@whps.org

karen_list@whps.org

Thank you for your attention.

Budget approved.

Well, I guess it’s done. The taxpayers’ association isn’t contesting it. So we’re all going to dig deep and pay up.

I’m glad we’re not having another bitter fight, but, damn, I do wish there was a way to hold down the ever increasing property taxes. Are you listening, Jodi Rell? 

Future of Bishops Corner on agenda tonight

The Bishops Corner Neighborhood Group and the Bishops Corner Branch library invite you to attend a discussion of plans for the reconstruction and development of 2558 Albany Avenue (the property next to Staples) on Thursday, April 10. The discussion will be led by Gregg Nanni of Project Enterprise. Please join us at 7:00 p.m. and take this opportunity to share your ideas for Bishops Corner with your neighbors. The meeting will be held in the Senior Center’s large meeting room.

If anyone goes and wants to tell us what happened, that would be wonderful.

8th graders commit suicide

An eighth grader named Norberto Jimenez at King Phillip killed himself. It’s so sad. The schools sent home a letter saying the boy had died unexpectedly but left out that he hung himself. That’s an important detail for parents looking to counsel youngsters.

Update: Another 8th grader committed suicide Wednesday morning. Sam Joseph, who attends Sedgwick but used to go to Bristow, killed himself.

Please, parents and concerned adults, check on the children in your lives. Let’s do everything we can to make sure that nobody else dies.

Hall Human Rights Coalition taking action

The Hall Human Rights Coalition has been doing “teach-ins” at Hall, KP and some elementary schools in the past two weeks about their new initiative – Pennies for Peace.  Inspired by Greg Mortenson’s book “Three Cups of Tea,” students have been raising awareness about the need for education in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  They have been collecting pennies to send to the Central Asia Institute, and are having a culminating event on April 8th at Barnes & Noble in Blue Back Square.  We will have some guest readers (town council members, hopefully board of ed memebers, favorite teachers, etc.) reading selections from Mortenson’s book, and students sharing their poetry, prose, and music about what they do to make small change in their community and the world.

More information can be found on our website: http://www.rockandlearn.org/index_files/Page745.htm

The budget. Round One.

I need to get caught up on what’s happening with the budget so I won’t venture any opinions other than this: I know a fight is looming.

But I’m sure those who are paying attention would like a new thread that focuses on the issue, so here it is.

Here are some key documents, which I need to read:

Town manager’s proposed budget

School superintendent’s budget proposal

Town manager’s March 11 budget presentation

Budget in Brief

Capital Improvement Budget

I do have to give credit to our town officials for putting all this information online so that we can easily dig through it.

Property tax estimator

Blueback II?

I need to get back on here because a big budget fight is obviously in the works.

But this entry is something more simple: I understand that the developer of Blue Back Square plans to remake the Bishop’s Corner area. There’s some kind of plan underway to raze the entire existing shopping center, offices and restaurants and replace it with another  urban lifestyle center akin to the wildly successful Blue Back Square. Anyone out there who can add something to this?

Goodbye, Superintendent Sklarz

 The town’s $188,000-a-year school superintendent, David Sklarz, is retiring in June 2009.

Sklarz, 61, has done a commendable job dealing with the town’s conflicting demand of maintaining a great school system without hitting people up for more money to pay for it. That’s tough work.

But he’s also been too secretive and too polarizing, failing to pull everyone together to support what is, after all, our town’s pride and joy. He’s also headed a system that hasn’t done enough to break down racial divides.

I am glad, though, that he’s giving the town lots of lead time to find a successor. Superintendents mostly suck, but since we have a pretty attractive job for someone, perhaps the months ahead will bring the right person to town, someone who can keep the schools humming for all of our students while remaining supportive of our teachers — and, somehow, make taxpayers content with the hefty tab for everything.

In any case, Sklarz goes out with his reputation intact. That’s never easy these days.

Abandon town manager form of government?

The town government’s entire structure could be overturned.

At least some politicians are seriously talking about the possibility of throwing out the town manager form of government that has guided West Hartford for years in favor of a system that relies on a strong mayor.

The motives behind the discussion are murky but at least part of the reason for the proposed shift is the growing difficulty of hiring people with the expertise and experience to run a municipality.

Another reason, I’m told, is that West Hartford’s finances may not be as solid as they were for a long time. The town’s AAA credit rating may not withstand the next recession.

I don’t think the talk is spurred by someone’s political ambitions, but that’s always a possibility. It would mean a lot more to be mayor if the position wielded real power at town hall.

I’m curious what others are hearing. This would be a gigantic change and if it’s something that officials are talking about, the rest of us ought to be included in the conversation.

10-year plan needs public input

Just want to help make sure people are aware of this one, because dull as it sounds, it’s actually a crucial planning document that will make a real difference in our town’s future: 

Community Forum
PLAN OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Wednesday, January 16, 7:00 PM
West Hartford Town Hall, Room 400

The West Hartford Town Plan & Zoning Commission has begun an eight-month process to update the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, a document that spans 2008-2018 guiding town leaders on decisions regarding land use.

You are invited to a Community Forum on Wednesday, January 16 at 7 PM at Town Hall, Room 400 to voice your thoughts, ideas, recommendations and questions. 

Comments from this forum will guide the commission as it begins to draft a long-range plan on how land will be used in West Hartford for the next ten years.

A draft report will be shared at the following meetings held at March 26 and May 14 at 7 PM at Town Hall, Room 400. Mark your calendar!

If you cannot attend these meetings, but would like to express your opinions, please send a letter to:

Town Plan & Zoning Commission
West Hartford Town Hall
50 South Main Street
West Hartford, CT 06107

or email to:

Town Planner Mila Limson at mila@westhartford.org <mailto:mila@westhartford.org>

For more information, call (860) 561-7555

I trust that when the draft report is ready for the March meeting, a copy will be online so those of us who shun government meetings can see what’s going on. I’d hate to trust the lackluster or altogether absent reporters the Courant has in our town.