Another proposed bill involving school services regionalization has been referred to the legislature's Education Committee.  The measure requires the Regional Education Service Centers to report on best practices for regional cooperation and the sharing of services and develop an inventory of goods and services offered by each. The Council of Small Towns, led by Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, supports the measure.  The goal of the proposal also deals with purchasing instructional or other supplies, testing materials, special education services, health care services or food or food services.

Bethel Superintendent of Schools Dr Christine Carver says they've always had some capacity to do joint purchasing, and local districts have recently expanded that to include technology.  They're exploring other areas, because towns can get better rates on higher volumes of goods or services.

Special Education services for students, in particular outplacement, is costly.  In Bethel, 23-percent of Carver's proposed budget for the coming year is for those services.  In Redding, she estimates it's as high as 29-percent of the budget.  The Superintendents are looking into how to offer programs at the district level to create fiscal efficiency and provide better special education services.  Their informal group says transportation for outplacement can be as much as 300-dollars per day per child.  Carver suggested ride sharing, if for example Bethel and Redding are each sending students to a school in Trumbull. 

But Carver cautioned that these proposals are complex because of different labor contracts for bargaining units in each town.