Submitted by Veronica Chiavaroli, Democratic candidate for the Board of Education
The week after Labor Day, Greenwich shifts from the slow pace of summer to the bustle of back-to-school. Usually, by early October, families have settled into a routine, but this year, I worry that won’t be the case.
Last year, the Republican majority on the BET reduced the Board of Education’s budget by $4 million. To protect our teachers and staff in order to ensure that students would continue to learn in the same exceptional academic environments, the BOE and GPS administration made the difficult decision to change school start times, which cut 23 buses and saved $2.5 million. The consequence? Thousands of students will now arrive within minutes of each other on roads in Central Greenwich that are already strained.
In a 1.3 mile stretch, almost 4,000 students will be arriving at school during a 15 minute window. Greenwich High School’s 2,700 students will be arriving at 7:45am. Across its two campuses, the 1,254 students of Greenwich Country Day School start at 7:45am and 8:00am.
In prior years, when GHS started at 8:30am, most of the GCDS traffic had cleared by the time the GHS students began trickling in. However, this year, from Stanwich Road to North Street, students from 3 campuses will all be arriving at the same time in cars and buses. In case this isn’t worrisome enough, the 500 students of Central Middle School, located in between GHS and the GCDS Upper School, have an 8:15am start time.
We all know that traffic has been a major concern in Greenwich over the last few years. This year though, that traffic crunch isn’t the fault of the town, distracted driving, or simply “more cars on the road.” It is the direct result of the BET Republicans’ cut to the BOE budget.
But we can prevent choices like this in the future.
Election Day is November 4, please support our schools and vote for all 6 Democrats for the BET: Elliot Alchek, Matt Deschamps, Laura Erickson, Doug Fenton, Stephen Selbst, and David Weisbrod.