Colombo, Harding disagree on Danbury Prospect Charter School

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – The two candidates for a state legislative seat differ on the establishment of a new charter school in one of the few school districts in Connecticut that is growing in leaps and bounds.

Democratic challenger Kerri Colombo opposes state funding for the Danbury Prospect Charter School and says the money should instead go toward upgrading existing public schools.

Republican Stephen Harding – also of Brookfield, who has held the seat in the 107th state House District since February 2015 – says all options should be explored, particularly in a school district with overcrowded buildings.

The district includes all of Brookfield, a slice of northern Danbury and the Stony Hill section of Bethel.

The state Board of Education has authorized the charter school but the General Assembly has not approved funding to allow it to open. It would be operated by Prospect Schools, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and would educated students in grades six through 12.

The school’s web site indicates that it is seeking to open in the Fall 2021.

During the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce’s debate on October 15, Colombo said, “I believe our tax money should be going to our public schools.”

“In that same amount of time, we can explore fixing the problem where it is, in the public school system and making sure that our funds again are going to the public schools and creating opportunities so that kids are not so overcrowded in the Danbury school system.”

Harding, who served for four years on the Brookfield Board of Education and whose wife teaches fifth grade at the Johnson Elementary School in Bethel, countered, “I think we need to explore a number of options.”

“I do agree that the public schools in our state need to be funded, and it should be our first priority,” he added. However, “There is an issue in the Danbury schools in providing kids with good opportunities.”

Harding said Danbury High School, which recently expanded to add a Freshmen Academy, is so “overcrowded” that there “are bottlenecks in the hallways.”

The debate, which was not open to the public, was live-streamed from the Brookfield town hall.

State Sen. Julie Kushner (D-24) of Danbury wrote this summer in The News-Times of Danbury that, “A charter school would drain much-needed funds from our school budget. Danbury schools would lose state funding for students enrolled in the charter, but still have financial responsibility for many of the charter’s operational costs, like buses, school nurses, and cafeteria workers. A charter school would intensify our existing problems and would only be available to a small and select number of Danbury’s students.

State Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury opposes the charter school and has told The News-Times that the school district should increase funding for the public schools.

Patch.com reported last year that Godfrey believes with a growing enrollment, Danbury will need at least one additional elementary school and possibly a third middle school in addition to Broadview and Rogers Park.

The News-Times has reported that earlier that in early October the General Assembly approved language that allows Danbury to receive a state grant for a proposed $45 million Career Academy for middle school and high school students. It would be built in part of the former Matrix building and educate 1,110 students in 40 classrooms.

The state of the art school would receive 80 percent funding from the state, according to The News-Times.

Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce President/Chief Operating Officer P.J. Prunty recently supported the charter school in a News-Times column.

He wrote, “Danbury is now reaching a crucial decision point to ensure each student receives a quality public education. In the past six months, 10,000 residents from neighboring states have changed their addresses to Connecticut, nearly 2,000 of those to Danbury, and schools are already experiencing increased enrollment. Danbury experienced a 5.6 percent increase in enrollment last year. This rapid rise in enrollment, while welcomed, is unsustainable without additional educational options.”

Connecticut Education Association (CEA) President Don Williams, the former President Pro-Tempore of the state Senate, has steadfastly opposed the expansion of charter schools in the state.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who taught Social Studies for 14 years at Danbury High School, supports the addition of the Danbury Prospect Charter School.

The Republican mayor said during a February 2013 talk at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury that, in general, he has been extremely impressed with the results he has seen in visiting charter schools across the state.

Boughton noted that at some of the schools the students have achieved “amazing results,” partly be through attending school for more hours a day than the public school students and being in session on alternate Saturdays. He said at the charter schools that he has visited, the principal not only teaches a class but also maintains a classroom.

Boughton, who said that he was still a member of the CEA, remarked, “Whenever anybody tries to break the mold, the CEA has to step in and say, ‘We can’t have this.’ “

Republicans have held the seat in the 107th District in 52 of the 54 years since it was established.

The late James Mannion - an attorney from Bethel, who was elected in 1974 - is the only Democrat to serve in the district.

Over the years, such Republicans as former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, former state House Speaker Francis Collins and former Brookfield Town Treasurer David Scribner have held the seat.

Harding annexed more than 59 percent of the vote in 2018 over Brookfield Democrat Daniel Pearson to garner a third term.

Currently he is the only Republican legislator who represents any portion of Danbury. The other four state House seats and the one state Senate seat that each encompass at least a portion of the Hat City are held by Democrats.