We strongly oppose the bills to force school districts to regionalize.


Why We’re Here
Hands Off Our Schools is a statewide, non-partisan movement that advocates for local decision-making in education for all school districts within Connecticut. We support voluntary shared services between school districts and between school districts and municipal governments to improve or maintain educational outcomes and reduce costs. We support voluntary regionalization of school districts for the purpose of improving educational outcomes and reducing costs. We support the removal of state imposed barriers that unnecessarily drive up education costs and/or inhibit voluntary shared services and regionalization. We support consideration of measures focused on improving educational outcomes across all school districts. We oppose forced regionalization of school districts nor state imposed punitive measures to coerce regionalization.
What Can I Do?
Give To Hands Off Our Schools Action
Resolved:
• We support voluntary shared services between school districts and between school districts and municipal governments to improve or maintain educational outcomes and reduce costs.
• We support voluntary regionalization of school districts for the purpose of improving educational outcomes and reducing costs.
• We support the removal of state imposed barriers that unnecessarily drive up education costs and/or inhibit voluntary shared services and regionalization.
• We support consideration of measures focused on improving educational outcomes across all school districts.
Join The Group
We have created a facebook group to organize a nonpartisan effort to oppose the school consolidation bills. Find events, weekly action items, articles and connect with other across the state.
View The Bills
State Senator Looney has proposed forced school regionalization in SB 738. Other bills have been introduced that impact forced or coerced regionalization.
Be a Volunteer
We have formed a group of nonpartisan volunteers to help oppose the forced school consolidation bills.

View the List
This is the email list of our elected state legislators, that of Gov. Lamont, CT Education Committee, and State Senators (D only).

View the List
This is the email list of our elected state legislators on the CT Planning and Development Committee which has a hearing for

Write a Letter
By emailing the members of the Education Committee. We have prepared a guide to writing a persuasive email message.

Calendar
View the calendar of upcoming Events.
Current News

School Consolidation Wrap Up Feb. 6, 2019: Making (Radio) Waves and Change
In order to connect with other communities and help publicize the efforts to oppose regionalization laws outside of Wilton, Lalor will be participating in a panel discussion on WSHU Public Radio on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1

Proposals to force regionalized school districts spark debate, distress
Two proposals that would force school district regionalization have ignited a storm of protest in some communities, as well as
At a packed Education Committee meeting Monday, Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said the “distress” she has heard from constituents about possible forced regionalization “has been so great, I’ve never quite seen anything like it.”

Looney Proposes Forced School Consolidation, Rattling Towns and Some Fellow Democrats
Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposed a bill which would force school districts in towns with less than 40,000 residents to consolidate with neighboring districts, alarming a number of towns and even fellow Democrats.
Senate Bill 454 would force the regionalization of a large number of towns in the state, merging their school districts with larger municipalities or cities. Only 24 municipalities in Connecticut have a population over 40,000. If passed, the change could cause an upheaval in where students are educated and at which schools.