19 February—So many of us really like the idea of consolidating Litchfield’s public schools with Wamogo’s schools, thus forming what will—in the circumstance, make that would—be Region 20. But, as things stand now, it must be a no-go. And now it’s clear why certain proponents of Region 20, however well-intentioned, were trying to push it through so quickly last year—ignoring state law, as it happened—in a way that would have severely curtailed thoughtful consideration.

[You can read my comments on the subject from last summer by clicking on Genesis and scrolling down to 4 August (Regionalization recommendation is premature) and then up to 9 August (Scoop! Told ya so again) posts. That’s before I learned about posts vs. pages.]

Litchfield Finance Board member Jim Stedronsky, who had been a notable proponent of consolidating the school systems, has had second thoughts, as has Litchfield Selectman Jeff Zullo. Jim and Jeff raise the uncomfortably valid point that the merger would save Litchfield only $26 per capita initially while giving the Wamogo towns a saving of $436 per capita. “Our cost would be slightly less and they would end up with substantial savings,” as Jeff put it, rather mildly. The arithmetic as reported to the selectmen may be off,

Savings from combining all resources are projected to be $1.3 million for Litchfield, $1.85 million for Goshen, $1.19 million for Morris, and $653,000 for Warren.

Not to be too parochial about it, but does that seems fair? Litchfield’s population of over 8,000 is well over 1,000 bigger than the population of the three Wamogo towns—Warren, Morris, Goshen—combined. So those little towns have a hell of a lot more to gain in every way from Region 20 than Litchfield.

But that’s only money. What really gets my goat is that the Region 20 board would comprise three members from each town. Are they kidding!? Why the hell should Litchfield be effectively penalized for not being minuscule? What happened to one man one vote?

Since too big a board would be a hindrance, a realistic and workable Region 20 board should still have 12 members—two from each of the Wamogo towns (or one from Warren and three from Goshen) and six from Litchfield, more accurately reflecting the populations of the towns.

The problem with one man one vote, as Selectman Jonathan Torrant points out, is that the Wamogo towns won’t go for it. That’s a given. But is Jon really comfortable with the proposed board with equal, unproportional representation from each town? I think he’s just being his normal conciliatory self. Same with Selectman Jodi Tenney, who thinks all the board members would act in the best interest of pupils. Jodi should know better. School boards are political and multi-town school boards are particularly parochial.

If the Wamogo towns are concerned that Litchfield would have more power on a Region 20 board with one man one vote, as Jon Torrant quite rightly predicts, let’s let Wamogo go its way while Litchfield goes its way. It’s working out pretty well now, with Chris Leone very ably and successfully serving as superintendent of both independent, unshackled regions sharing whatever needs to be shared now and in the future.

Something to consider when voting against Region 20 is Region 7—Northwest Regional School District No. 7—with New Hartford’s population slightly larger than the populations of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, and Norfolk combined. Twelve member board, three per town. New Hartford gets screwed.

The Region 20 plan as it stands is supposed to be submitted to the state on 23 February for approval a month thereafter. Or a plan could be submitted on 8 April for approval in May. The committee would like a four-town referendum to be held 21 June.

It’s likely the current plan that’s patently unfair to Litchfield will make it to the state. And the voters of Litchfield should reject it hands down, lest we open ourselves up to a royal screwing . . .