Parents Alarmed That Middletown's Macdonough School May Close

Bravo. Let's close Macdonough, and close Keigwin. Lets consolidate, and pack the kids into buildings like Sardines. I'm sure that will give them a real quaility learning experience. Sitting on Busses for 30-45 minutes every morning will also add to their experience. And, weren't we told just a short time ago that the other elementary schools were already over crowded too? Keigwin is old, and moving the students to the old high school with the 7th and 8th grades will help their experience. over crowding, high student ratio to Teachers. It doesn't get any better. So then why is Dr. Frechette and the Middletown BOE still in place? These people have done nothing for Middletown since they arrived. Teachers are in an uproar, the distict is spending money too fast, the new High School is over budget. Shall I go on? Is their a pattern here?

According to a report on WFSB tonight, the cost to educate the 225 to 250 students there is $ 1,000,000. This is less than $ 4,500 per student - which is far below the average cost of educating a student in town. So, how does closing the school fix this?

Ok, so if it costs $1 million to educate those 225 students, how come it is one of the lowest performing schools in the district? Closing this school would only overcrowd the already overcrowded and underperforming elementry schools in the city.

Now I never understood the reasoning of pulling 6th graders out of the elementry schools and putting them in Kegwin. But if anything closing Kegwin and putting the 6th graders in with the 7th and 8th at the soon to be old high school would make a more viable option. The old high school was housing 9-12th and was overcrowded for years. So wouldn't it make more sense at this point to put them together in a school that once housed 4 grades? Could it not handle 3?

Middletown may have to close out a school because of a lack of funding...meanwhile, Portland builds a high school / middle school complex with fake numbers but doesn't have to pay back the state over $4 million dollars --

http://www.courant.com/community/news/mr/hc-d...

Doesn't seem right, does it?

Not for nothing but I don't have any kids to send to any public schools and I am tired of the "Secret" High School meetings that get passed for millions of dollars over a fictitious budget without a public vote. Close them down as far as I am concerned. In my opinion, if you are using the public schools you should be taxed, if you are not using the service, you should not be taxed. But, we all know the story about "opinions".

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF!

Superintendent Frechette left Norwich in debt in 2005:

"Frechette, 48, has served about eight years as superintendent in Norwich, a 14 school district of 4,000 students that has struggled to survive the districts bleak financial situation which has resulted in DEEP CUTS AND PROGRAM CUTS."

FURTHER INFO CONTINUES -

"Once known for its childhood programs, Norwich has had to cut all day kindergarten and all day preschool classes. It closed an elementary after school activities and cut hundreds of jobs."

IT IS NOW 2008 AND Macdonough's fate is at stake -

Remember Board of Education comment about Frechette was -We have so many good candidates, but in the end ... these three really FLOATED TO THE TOP."

Yes Middletown Schools are floating to the "top"