Submitted by Sophie Koven, Riverside, Current Riverside School and Greenwich High School parent
Dear members of the BET and First Selectman Camillo,
I recently attended the Old Greenwich Association meeting and heard James Waters’ excellent presentation on the dire state of the Old Greenwich School. As an attorney I was shocked to learn that the Town has a consent decree signed in April, 2021 from the Office of Civil Rights in regards to the lack of accessibility at the school which called for renovations to begin in 2023, and yet the BET is continuing to postpone doing any pre construction work at the school, let alone commencing construction as per the agreement. This is not only morally unconscionable, but for those who can feel comfortable with knowingly having children educated in unsafe and illegal conditions in the name of fiscal prudence, I would also add that this is a very risky fiscal strategy.
There is no question that Town officials and all members of the BET are well aware of the conditions at Old Greenwich School. It is entirely foreseeable that a child or staff member at the school could suffer serious injury or illness due to the school’s dilapidated condition; it is negligent to ignore this risk and to violate the consent decree, and those who choose to do so would be liable in the case of an accident or illness. To put it bluntly, the Town is gambling when it chooses not to do the work needed in Old Greenwich School.
During Covid the BET cited the uncertainty of the times to rationalize bare bones budgeting for the BOE and to delay school capital projects. We now know that our town benefited financially in a tremendous way during the pandemic. Property prices sky rocketed and houses sold sight unseen with bidding wars. The demand is still extremely strong. Many of the families moving here are arriving with young children and they are coming for the Greenwich Public Schools. The quality of our schools is critical to the appeal of our town, and this influx of young families is great for the economic health of the town.
The BET and Selectman Camillo often talk about how important it is to keep our town affordable. For families with school age children Greenwich is affordable because of Greenwich Public Schools— good public school are the value proposition for these families.
I personally moved my family to Riverside specifically because of the good public schools. If we allow the buildings to continue to degrade, the staff and students will suffer, the educational quality will decrease, the schools will no longer be attractive and the town will lose its appeal. New buyers are not going to rush to a town that is comfortable with inaccessible buildings and raw sewage in the classrooms. And paying private school tuition would be very unaffordable for the vast majority of families in Greenwich.
The BET needs to do the morally right, legally sound and fiscally prudent thing— provide funding for critically necessary improvements to our schools so they can support our students, and also support our town whose value is inextricably linked to the quality and strength of the Greenwich Public Schools.
Sincerely,
Sophie Koven
Riverside CT
Current Riverside School and Greenwich High School parent