By Michelle L. Santoro

Sherman – Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Saturday October 7 at the Sherman Volunteer Fire Department in Charter Hall, Sherman registered voters and landowners were asked to vote yes or no on the following question:

“SHALL THE TOWN OF SHERMAN APPROPRIATE $47,205,000 TO RENOVATE AS NEW THE SHERMAN SCHOOL AND AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS, NOTES OR TEMPORARY NOTES IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $36,000,000 TO FINANCE THE APPROPRIATION, OR SO MUCH AS MAY BE NECESSARY AFTER DEDUCTING GRANTS TO BE RECEIVED FOR THE PROJECT?”

More than 1,400 people voted, and nearly two-thirds of those votes were “No.”  In a vote of 914 opposing versus 509 in favor, the School Renovation Project Referendum failed. 

In speaking with the Board of Selectmen (“BOS”), and a member of the School Building Committee (“SBC”), they all seem resolute in forging forward.  When asked about next steps, if any, SBC Member and First Selectman Joel Bruzinski said, “Until the SBC meets again, I don’t have a specific solution moving forward but in general I would say that we will take a deep breath, roll up our sleeves, and get back to wo rk.  Nothing worth doing is ever easy.”  And the process thus far has not been easy. 

Structural problems at the school have been well documented. Although community forums were held, and SBC meetings recorded and posted, it appears more input from the community is needed.  Selectman Bob Ostrosky said, “The SBC, Board of Education (“BOE”), and BOS need to seek out feedback on why the proposal failed by such a wide margin and work together to find a solution for the school that the taxpayers will support.   We can’t assume we have all the answers and truly need to involve a wider range of public input into this process moving forward,” an area Mr. Ostrosky has stressed throughout was important.

At BOS, BOE, and SBC meetings, many residents spoke out in support of renovating the school.  Nonetheless, the referendum failed.  So, where do the BOS, BOE, SBC and the residents who voted in favor of the project go from here?  Mr. Bruzinski said, “The SBC will need to do a better job educating the voters and finding a solution that is more appealing to them.  Let me say that the plan that was voted down was a fantastic one.  It is just very difficult to make folks who have not been involved every step of the way understand that.  So, we forge on simply because we must.  Our community deserves a school facility that is safe, clean, and operably efficient.  We can’t rest until that is accomplished.”  Following up that sentiment, First Selectman Don Lowe said, “The Sherman School isn’t going anywhere, and we will bring forth a plan to fix all infrastructure problems and make that facility whole again. This will be done through teamwork and cooperation with the BOE, the building committee, and the Board of Selectmen with full input from the Sherman community.”  Moving on for the community …