Democrats on Board of Directors, School Board Pledge Unity on School Repairs

A week after Mayor Leo V. Diana released for the state of the town's schools, Diana and his counterpart on the Board of Education released a joint statement pledging that Democratic members of both boards will work together to try and resolve the issue. 

The following statement was released by Diana and Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini Tuesday: 

Democratic members of Manchester’s Board of Directors and Board of Education recognize deteriorating conditions in our schools and commit to addressing critical repairs and making tough decisions as we determine how best to proceed. As a first step, we look forward to a public dialogue with our Republican colleagues at a soon to be scheduled joint meeting of our boards. The focus of this meeting is to discuss the development of a timely, cost-effective, practical plan that addresses both the short term issues and long term needs of our school system and community.

Democratic members of the Board of Directors recognize the Board of Education's responsibility to identify and prioritize the improvement needs for our schools. The Democratic members of the Board of Education understand that sufficient funding of these initiatives must be a high priority for our community, and improvements must be coordinated through the Board of Directors, whether it be for short-term improvements or long term bonding initiatives.

"Manchester is fortunate to have two active and engaged Boards willing to sit down and take a close look at the problems created by years of deferred maintenance in our school buildings," said Chris Pattacini, Chair of Manchester's Board of Education, “we cannot change the past, but we can work together to find a solution.”

"Members from both Boards are passionate, well intentioned and focused on solving these complicated issues.  The process will result in an affordable plan after all of the options are considered for our school facilities today, tomorrow and in the future,” Mayor Leo Diana said.

Since Democrats control a 6-3 majority on both decision making boards in town, it is reasonable to believe that if the two boards decided to work together they would be able to win approval for whatever proposal they endorsed. If the money to repair or renovate town schools were to come from bonds, however, voters would still need to approve the expenditure in a public referendum. 

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