Tesoro, Trumbull Reps Testify Against School Regionalization

TRUMBULL, CT — In a local bipartisan move Democratic First Selectman Vicki Tesoro and local Republican State Reps. David Rutigliano and Laura Devlin testified against measures to force local schools to regionalize.

The bills have caused some anxiety among many Connecticut residents where families often decide where to live largely due to the quality of school systems.

Senate Bill 457 would force school districts with less than 2,000 pupils to join a new or existing regional school district.

Senate Bill 738 would require school regionalization for towns with populations less than 40,000 residents. The redistricting would be similar to probate districts.

Lamont's bill would establish a commission to develop a plan for sharing school services among school districts, including superintendents. His bill targets towns with fewer than 10,000 residents and districts with less than 2,000 students or districts with two or fewer elementary schools, according to the CT Mirror.

Lamont has argued that the state can no longer support small school systems that are inefficient and have expensive superintendents.

“We in Trumbull take great pride in our school system and the achievements of the students. This has resulted in a migration of residents to Trumbull and the sustainability of our property values, our school system is important to our city’s development and infrastructure. The forced regionalization of school districts is putting that development in jeopardy,” Rutigliano said.

Rep. Devlin said, “I'm against forced regionalization and would rather see the state remove restrictions that hinder communities from making voluntary choices about where and how to regionalize.”

Tesoro said, “In Trumbull, our school system is critical to our identity as a community. Our investment in education is one that our community embraces and the success of our students is a matter of civic pride. Our strong school system supports our property values and attracts new residents to our community, bringing to us a steady stream of new ideas and energy.”

The three bills that have to do with school regionalization are:

• S.B. 457, An Act Concerning the Size of School Districts
• S.B. 738, An Act Concerning the Creation of Regional School Districts
• S.B. 874, An Act Concerning Education Initiatives and Services in Connecticut (Gov. Ned Lamont's bill)