Proposition 2 1/2 Puts Willett School Closing on Hold-November 6, 1980

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Superintendent Louis J. Taris Cites Potential $1 Million Budget Reduction Following Statewide Tax Cap Vote

The passage of Proposition 2 1/2 has put on hold a school administration proposal to phase out the Willett Elementary School. “The Willett School will now be addressed as part of a total plan for the school system, kindergarten through Grade 12,” Superintendent Louis J. Taris told the school committee last night. Taris said that prior to Tuesday’s election, he was prepared to propose a gradual phasing out of the Willett School over the next two years.

The kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 would be moved out of the school by next September and the school closed completely in June 1982. The school committee voted last year to close the Willett, the town’s newest and least populated school, in 1981 or 1982. In another part of the plan, school administration offices were moved to the school in September.

However, Proposition 2 1/2 could mean an $800,000 to $1 million cut in the school budget, and Taris wants a complete review of the school system before any school closing is planned. “We need to meet with other town officials to determine how much will be cut from the school budget and what the bottom line fiscal implication is,” he said.

Committee member Charles Saraca urged Taris to consider major redistricting along with a possible school closing. “I think with the right redistricting, you can consolidate and close a school without infringing on special services or overcrowding classrooms,” Saraca said. He said he wanted to see every school child attending the school nearest his home.

Specifically, he maintains the children in the Sumner-Union Street area, who now attend the Balch School, could go to the closer Prescott School, and children in the Chapel Street area could go to the Cleveland School, freeing space at the Cleveland to absorb children from the Balch. The plan would make room in the Cleveland for the present Willett School children. Taris said his main concern with redistricting was that children from the Aaron Guild School, closed last year, would not have to change schools again. The committee will discuss redistricting and the Willett School next week and will set up a meeting with the town manager, finance commission, selectmen and town accountant to assess the effect of Proposition 2 1/2 on the school budget.

In other business, the board agreed to meet in open session with the FinCom on Nov. 25 to discuss the audit of special needs transportation records providing an open meeting would not have any legal implications. The committee also noted a Dec. 3 testimonial dinner for Ruth Shea, who has retired as director of the Henry O. Peabody School. Finally, the board reviewed with high school Principal John Piccirilli the results of last year’s high school evaluation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and procedures for implementing its recommendations. No copies of the evaluation were available last night.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger