Senator John Fonfara (D-Hartford) today addressed members of the Hartford Board of Education to urge them to reconsider Hartford Schools Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez’s plan to close Batchelder School and allow him and others to work with the board on alternatives to the closure.
The four-hour hearing took place in the Batchelder auditorium where hundreds of students, parents, teachers, alumnae and neighbors raised questions about the role of the school as an anchor in the community, the reasoning for the closure and the short timeframe between when the proposal was announced and when a vote will be taken. With Sen. Fonfara were Hartford community activist Hyacinth Yennie and State Representative Edwin Vargas.