According to unofficial tallies, a proposal to consolidate elementary schools among the three Connecticut towns that make up the Region 12 school district has been voted down, according to the Waterbury Republican American.
Region 12 is made up of the towns of Roxbury, Washington and Bridgewater. In the past decade or so, public school enrollment there has declined. Facilities are in need of repair, and proponents said that consolidation would be more cost-efficient than maintaining separate elementary schools in each town.
Voter turnout was high Tuesday for a referendum on the idea of merging to one elementary school in Washington. All three towns needed to approve the proposal. Bridgewater and Roxbury rejected the idea.
According to recent a statement by the chairman of the local board of education and the region’s school superintendent, Region 12 has seen a nearly 32 percent population decline from 2003 to 2013. Enrollment has dropped from 1,070 students to 796 students.
