A local controversy announced in a headline on The Willimantic Chronicle’s front page involving a flyer distributed to residents that denounced the committee researching the viability of combining Hampton and Scotland elementary schools was resolved at an April 7 meeting when Rose Bisson was “unappointed” as the committee’s chairman. Distributed by the Political Action Committee “Keep HES Open”, the flyer named Bisson as the contact person for the PAC.

The flyer alleged that the committee “is trying to close the school” and that its “cost comparisons are not being accurately presented”. The flyer also made claims against the committee’s imminent proposal, predicting that combining the two schools will “adversely affect our property values”, cause Hampton to lose “respected staff” and “control of the school budget”, and result in “larger class sizes”. The flyer also claimed that our elementary school “represents our future and guarantees the vitality of our community” and urged residents to contact Bisson to support the PAC.

The First Selectmen of Hampton, Allan Cahill, and Scotland, Gary Greenberg, established the committee in 2021 to research the possibility of merging the two elementary schools as a cost-savings measure and to deal with the continued declining enrollment in the schools. Two sub-committees were subsequently formed, a Governance Committee, which has been developing a cooperative agreement between the two schools, and a Programming Committee, charged with developing a model educational program and its costs, in order to provide a viable proposal to the people of the two towns on educating their students together in a single elementary school. A member of both, Bisson chairs the Programming Committee.

It was the dual leadership roles with the committees and the PAC which Selectman Greenberg, who chaired the meeting, found most egregious. While critical of the flyer’s “untruths”, Greenberg stated that the flyer compromised the credibility of the committee in that it named Bisson, an authoritative source of information, as the PAC’s “point person”.  Greenberg asked members to consider whether or not Bisson should remain as a member, and chairman, of the committee.

The majority of members echoed Greenberg’s concerns. Tom McAvoy of Scotland and Juan Arriola of Hampton stated that members should refrain from announcing their personal opinions until the process is complete and the public becomes involved during the informational meetings and the advisory vote. Wendy Sears of Scotland and Kathy Donahue of Hampton expressed “disappointment and dismay” over the contents of the flyer, and Bisson’s role in creating it, and defended the accuracy of the committee’s financial information. While stating that Bisson is a valuable member of the committee, they joined McAvoy and Arriola in calling for her removal as chairman. Only Scotland member Cassidy Martin advocated for Bisson’s continued role as committee chairman, although the two dozen residents in attendance seemed to support her opinion, applauding both Martin’s, and Bisson’s, remarks.

In her defense, Bisson spoke to the validity of each claim on the flyer and her right to help publish it; however, she did agree to step down as chairman. Hence, Greenberg “unappointed” Bisson and after adjournment, newly appointed Chairman Wendy Sears called a meeting of the Programming Committee to order, and work continued on confirming figures for accuracy.

The Gazette expects to publish a special edition when the advisory vote is scheduled, with information from the committees on the cooperative agreement, the educational model and its costs, questions posed and answered during the public forums, and the opinions of residents on the matter. Please send us yours.