My first job after college was as a reporter at The Glastonbury Citizen; most of that time, I was the school reporter. That meant I covered the Board of Education, sports, and, let’s be honest, a whole bunch of other stuff because that’s how small news organizations work. Glastonbury also happens to be where I went to school, so I know a lot about that school system.
Comparing Glastonbury Public Schools to Stafford Public Schools is apples to oranges. Their population is roughly three times the size of ours, and their median income is… well… let’s just say that back in the 1990s, I went to high school with a kid whose family had a private helipad. He brought the helicopter to prom. That being said, I think there are a few things to learn from Glastonbury, and I am here to tell you about them.
1) Schools are a big part of economic development
Over the course of a couple of decades, Glastonbury went from a rural town to one of the most expensive and desirable communities in the state. For a long time, building in the hills was too expensive to be worth it for developers because those hills are filled with ledge. Then, back in the 1950s, the town received a grant to develop a Russian language program. Eventually, they also built language labs and introduced Spanish to students in elementary school. When I started school in the 1980s, we began informal Spanish-language instruction in the second grade and began attending Spanish class in the third grade. When I was a reporter, first graders were learning Spanish.
A reputation for excellent education — spurred largely by the aforementioned investments — eventually made it possible for developers to charge more for the houses they built, making it possible to build McMansions in those ledge-filled hills. The services demanded by the people who bought those homes followed. The median income went up, and by the time I was in my 20s, the tobacco barns across the street from our house were replaced with a KinderCare and an enormous magnet school — and the downtown transformation was underway. Another 20 years later, there is a labyrinth of rotaries, massive apartment complexes, tons of restaurants, and more in downtown. Frankly, I hate it. They did a bad job of managing their growth. Still, it’s about as clear an example of how education impacts economic growth as I can think of. I would hate to see Stafford start to look like Glastonbury, but it’s worth understanding how schools impact everything else in town. Better schools attract more affluent people, and more affluent people attract more businesses. So, if you’re lamenting the lack of business in town, you might want to think about how you vote during the next referendum.
2) Thinking ahead and raising funds
When I was covering the Glastonbury Schools, parents formed The Glastonbury Education Foundation (GEF). Back in the early 2000s, I found the whole thing a little tone-deaf. The affluent parents of affluent children were raising money to buy tablets and all manner of new technology that gave their already advantaged kids an even bigger advantage. Meanwhile, kids a few miles away could barely get the textbooks they needed. Now, it's clear that these parents could see where education was headed. I’ve been thinking about the GEF a lot lately as I watch budget discussions, all the different booster groups for Stafford schools hold individual fundraisers for their programs. I wonder if it would be more efficient to combine forces and create one centralized fundraising arm that helps ensure all of Stafford's students get what they need. Feel free to take my idea and run with it, parents!
3) Have a (better) development plan
I remember complaining about the focus Glastonbury had on building 55+ communities. They seemed to think this was how to bring more tax revenue into town without burdening the system with more kids and rowdy young people. At the same time, they were talking about walkability. I pointed out that young people were the ones who did most of the walking and also could not afford to live in town. Stafford’s Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) has been talking about revisiting the regulations to encourage housing that young people can afford. This is great news, but here’s the problem: developers. You need a really forward-thinking property owner to take the risk and build, say, studio and one-bedroom apartments that cater to a very specific demographic.
I also remember the meetings where Glastonbury’s Town Plan & Zoning Commission talked about wanting to be the next West Hartford — but they either missed the point of what’s nice about West Hartford or failed miserably at achieving it. If you aren’t familiar with downtown Glastonbury, it’s essentially a series of strip malls with big parking lots. Are there sidewalks? Yes. Is it technically walkable? Sure. Is there anything inviting about it that would make you want to walk around? No. Downtown West Hartford — and even Blue Back Square — has storefronts directly on the sidewalks. You park in a public lot and then walk wherever you want to go. I have countless friends who live there because they can walk out their front door and get to a restaurant or a store. (When I lived in Brattleboro, Vermont, I enjoyed the same walkability on a smaller scale.) We have a smaller version of that here in Stafford, and we need to think carefully about how to curate that feel while continuing to grow — especially if we want to attract young people. So, is there a way to manage growth even more and avoid some of the mistakes I think Glastonbury made? I sure hope so. Growth, for growth’s sake, doesn’t end well.
Comments