This Week’s Letters to the Editor

Editor’s Note: The Letters to the Editor section in the Woodbridge Town Chronicle is a place where community voices can be shared and heard. In the print newspapers of years past, letters to the editor were often the liveliest section, where readers spoke directly to one another, the broader community, and its leaders. To submit a letter for consideration please refer to the submission guidelines.

Reject the plan for Beecher Road School so we don’t make the mistake we avoided last time

To the editor,

Back in 2000, the Superintendent of Schools convinced the Woodbridge Board of Education, (WBOE) that Beecher Road School would soon grow to over 1,200 students, and to educate this many students he recommended that a second school be built on the baseball field to house grades 4-6. The original Beecher school would house K-3. The cost was estimated to be $50 million, and the WBOE jumped right in and brought it to the Board of Selectmen for approval to seek state reimbursement. The Board of Selectmen approved it by a 4-2 vote and the WBOE went to work to move it along, despite the fact that nothing was verified.

Thankfully for the taxpayers, First Selectman Roger Harrison was a no vote and he asked me to work with him to see if this was really viable. We soon realized it was a terrible idea and we battled with the WBOE. With taxpayers voicing opposition, the plan was eventually dropped. Within 3-4 years of that decision the Beecher population fell below 800 students. Financial disaster avoided.

Now the WBOE is again supporting an insane plan to demolish Beecher Road School and rebuild it in the rear of the property where there is supposedly much rock and ledge that would need to be blasted. Unfortunately our First Selectman voted in favor of this ridiculous proposal, despite knowing the devastating effect this will have on taxes. Beecher Road School might need some updating but to knock down the entire campus is as bad a plan as was the 2000 proposal. It is utter insanity by the WBOE at a cost of perhaps $140 million.

Woodbridge taxpayers need to let the WBOE know they are not in favor of this senseless plan and make it clear they will not support it when it goes to referendum.

— Matthew T. Giglietti

The writer was a member of the Woodbridge Board of Finance from July 1986 to December 2023 where he served as Chairman for 35 years (1988–2023). He currently serves as the Town Treasurer.

Editor’s Note: Letters reflect the perspectives of their authors. They are published to foster dialogue about issues of local concern, including questions of governance, transparency, and accountability, as well as topics such as highlighting upcoming or past events from community groups. To submit a letter for consideration please refer to the submission guidelines.