Notes from the Old Noank Jail

The past several weeks have been “noisy” for the Town of Groton due to conflicts involving the Council, the School Superintendent, the Board of Education and the Taxpayers. These have centered around Fitch baseball field upgrades for the new Mystic Schooners team and a controversial vote by the BOE to eliminate one middle school next year. These conflicts appear to be based primarily around financial as well as personality and communication issues.

The Fitch High School Ball Field improvements were to be financed by a generous private donation via the Schooner team at no cost to the taxpayers. When it later became clear that costs would exceed the private donation, neither the Council nor the taxpayers were properly informed of this change. The Superintendent apparently authorized construction in excess of the donated amount. Now, who pays for excess costs of $140,000 or more, for a ball field improvement that the High School baseball team itself never really needed?

Meanwhile, the decision by the BOE to close one Middle School next year met with resistance from many citizens who complained about lack of planning for such an undertaking. In addition, one long-time BOE member now feels that Groton should actually continue to have three middle schools as a better educational experience for the children. And although the Superintendent claims that keeping three middle schools open is not possible any longer due to costs, we question this because last year the BOE actually met the required budget figure after telling everyone they could not.

Common sense needs to quickly prevail here. The Schooner ball club is contractually responsible for the field improvements and the contractors still need to be paid for the extra costs. Perhaps a loan can be negotiated as an interim solution. And the BOE needs to retract their vote to close a middle school next year, allowing more time to effect necessary planning for smooth transition by the students. If necessary, the BOE should direct the Superintendent to cut costs at administrative levels, including Principals and Assistant Principals, to reduce redundancy and help achieve a goal with no budget increase.

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