The RSD#19 Board of Education and Building Committee are currently studying the possibility of building a new high school on a 100-acre parcel of land located on the University of Connecticut Depot Campus.

They plan to hold the first community workshop on Thursday 6/9 - in the middle of EOS finals week. A full day workshop will be held with school educational leaders on Tuesday 6/13 - the day before school ends. A second community workshop will be held in early August. These activities will culminate with a third workshop in early September in preparation for a November referendum. 

We request that the Building Committee and BOE move these planning sessions to the fall when greater community input is possible versus at the end of the school year and over the summer when stakeholders are least available.

We make this request because:

1) Many EOS students will be unable to participate in the first community workshop because they will be studying for exams.

2) A full day workshop with educators on the day before school ends, after an exhausting school year, is unlikely to produce maximal results.

3) It will be difficult to publicize the second community workshop in August when school is not in session.  Turn out will likely be low.

4) UConn students who are registered to vote in the Town of Mansfield but who do not reside here in the summer will not have an opportunity to participate in the first 2 scheduled workshops.  

We believe the community would be better served by starting this visioning process in the fall when students, families, and the community are more likely to engage in school related matters, not during finals week and over the summer.  We ask that the Building Committee and BOE adjust the timeline of the planning process accordingly.