THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

West Hartford GOP Urges Board to Reinstate Veterans Day in Our Schools

West Hartford, CT – May 19, 2009 – On May 5, 2009, the Board of Education, led by Board Members Jack Darcey and Claire Kindall, voted to have school be in session on Veterans Day in order to change the last day of school from June 18, 2010 to June 17, 2010. Justin Clark, Chairman of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee, was not only concerned about not properly honoring our veterans, but with the reason behind it. "I am not sure why they needed to end school a day earlier. There must be some reasons, but I think we can all agree that if the choice is between celebrating the birth of Paul McCartney [June 18, 1942] and honoring our veterans, the choice is clear." Mr. Clark added that he isn’t "trying to be glib about this, but the point is that I can’t think of any compelling reason why we need to give up Veterans Day in order to end school a day earlier. When you weigh the importance of each day, I don’t know why the Democrats thought the scale tipped in favor of starting vacation a day earlier instead of honoring our veterans."

Noting concerns about the process, Mr. Clark added that "I am not sure why certain other days-off in the school calendar weren’t contemplated. For instance, the schools are closed the day after Thanksgiving, and that isn’t even a holiday! Again, the choice is pretty stark. A day off for Christmas shopping but not for our veterans? Doesn’t make sense to me."

Because of these concerns, the West Hartford Republican Town Committee passed a resolution late last evening calling on the Board of Education to reinstate Veterans Day as a day off for our school children. "Maybe the Democrats on the Board should have looked at some other days, maybe they should have weighed the factors more closely, I don’t know. Jack Darcey, Terry Schmitt, Claire Kindall, Bruce Putterman and Harry Captain are all very talented politicians up there. They must have had their reasons. That said, we think they should take a mulligan on this one and start over."