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Volume 23, Number 49
Friday, March 6, 2020
BOE CONVENES Coginchaug musicians Discussion head to Mohegan Sun for college hoops tourney continues on
regionalization
By Everett Bishop Town Times
By Everett Bishop Town Times
A group of local student musicians will head to Mohegan Sun today to perform at the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Board of Education continues to grapple with how to amend a proposed regionalization plan and how to present it to the public.
The original plan said there should be elementary and middle schools, but didn’t “really talk about grades,” Ritter said, The board was joined by explaining that the reason its attorney, Matt Ritter, for this was, “When you during a Feb. 26 meeting as it discussed various ap- actually established the proaches. Ritter said that if schools … it was all over the place. Durham didn’t the board was still have a kindergarten.” adamant about closing John Lyman Elementary, Ritter described some of then it should continue the original grade configuwith creating a planned rations of RSD-13, which amendment and bring included an elementary that revised option to referendum.
Acting as the pep band for Wichita State University, 29 students from Coginchaug Regional High School will share the arena with collegiate level bands from across the country. According to band director Tim Fisher, this opportunity came around through word of mouth. “It happened quick. What I gathered was that Wichita’s band couldn’t make it, they had a conflict,” Fisher said. “Being from Kansas, their band director isn’t an expert on Connecticut towns or anything like that so he was reaching out to a couple colleagues he had at Connecticut colleges.”
Ritter also provided additional information on what that would mean for grade configurations in Durham and Middlefield.
See BOE, A2
Coginchaug pep band members will perform at the AAC Women's Basketball Tournament at Mohegan Sun tonight. They were enlisted to back Wichita State. Photo courtesy of Tim Fisher
Those colleagues suggested Fisher and the Coginchaug pep band and Fisher jumped at the chance.
29 who would perform at the game, which tips off tonight, Friday, March 6 at 6 p.m.
“This will be the first time we’ve done any sort of big tournament,” Fisher said. “But we have great, talented musicians so it’s great to give the kids this opportunity and it will be great for our kids to see what a college pep band is like.”
Senior pep band captain and trumpet player Ava Pitruzzello counts herself and her fellow senior members as lucky to get this unexpected invitation.
“Everyone is super excited for this amazing opportunity to perform in such a fun enBecause of NCAA rules, vironment,” she said. “I’m Fisher was forced to make really grateful that I get to huge cuts from his pep band have one more pep band of 120 students to choose the game with all my friends
and get to finish our senior year with a bang.” Depending on how well Wichita State does, the pep band could play all weekend and into the championship game on Monday night. And as a symbol of good faith, Fisher said that Wichita State plans to donate to the Coginchaug band department. Details on that donation are not known at this time. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The RSD13 Board of Education met with their attorney, Matt Ritter, to discuss next moves in amending their regionalization plan after their last amendment was struck down at referendum. Photo by Everett Bishop, Town Times