Schools

Parents To School Board: Develop Concrete Plan For School Closing

Ridgefield parents try to keep six school elementary schools open.

The Ridgefield Board of Education has its work cut out for it in terms of both creating a viable plan for possibly closing an elementary school and -- maybe a harder task -- explaining to parents why they chose as they did.

At Monday's public forum, parents of elementary students spoke mostly in favor of keeping all six schools open and leaving the districts as they are.

Mostly, those who spoke asked that the board be concrete in both its analysis and its decision, making sure the right one was made.

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"Folks are just worn out by the discussion," said one resident, Anne O'Neill.

Her son Jake, 9, also spoke: "I like our schools the way they are, and I don't want them to change

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Parents who spoke carried a general message to the board: Know what you're doing before you do it.

When it came time for the board to discuss the issue, the members addressed those facts.

"We need to try to do it in a way that, in the long run, improves education for the kids," said board member Irene Burgess. "It's all about how we get there, and we're going to have to do what's best."


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