Sam Gurwitt Photo
Walter Morton
Opinion A recent opinion letter asked “What has happened to Hamden?” — only to tell the tale of what is wrong with our town, and disparage our town’s fiscal health, our public schools and services, the competency of Hamden’s local leaders and their ability to responsibly and realistically confront the challenges facing our city’s residents.
Let me actually answer the question instead by asking, “Why can’t we work together to ensure our towns and cities can further thrive?”
The challenges facing Hamden are no different than challenges facing comparable cities and towns of our size throughout Connecticut — but we are working every day to address them.
As a proud graduate of Hamden High School, I have seen firsthand what a quality public education our schools provide. The excellent education I received enabled me to go on to attend Penn State University, followed by a successful career in the United States Army, of which I’m still a member.
Returning home, I chose to get involved locally because I not only wanted our town’s students to have the same opportunities I had, but I wanted the next generation to excel even more than me. To do that, I chose to be an active member on our town’s Board of Education.
We have work to do — as do many cities that have similar socioeconomic challenges among some of their residents. But we are taking major steps and making great strides each year to increase opportunities in our schools and improve student outcomes.
For example, the school board recently approved and is In the process of implementing our 3R Plan —- a plan that will racially balance our elementary schools, as well as offer high-quality Pre‑K, which will help to aggressively close our achievement gap.
Additionally, we’ve created an Equity Committee to better understand and work on meaningful ways to improve and create greater equity throughout our schools. The Board is also currently in the early stages of updating its K‑12 Curriculum to make it more inclusive and representative of the students in our district.
Hamden High’s student acceptance rates to selective colleges continues to be comparable to almost any top school in Connecticut (including high schools in the wealthiest school districts). Currently over 300 Hamden students are taking courses for college credit through our university and college partners –- the majority of these at no cost to students, thanks to our partners (and through our agreement, students eligible for free and reduced lunch pay nothing). We are also proud of the fact that students in our new HECA program (Hamden Engineering Careers Academy) can earn industry certificates as well as an Associate’s Degree concurrently with their high school diplomas at no cost.
Hamden has changed from being a completely suburban community to a mix of suburb and city. But the hearts of so many in Hamden make it feel like one big town, a neighborhood we all can call home. We are cutting the ribbon on new businesses every month, which offers local employment opportunities while also strengthening our grand list, allowing us to further regain our financial footing.
Many other local leaders like myself are working to address the towns problems and move us forward in a constructive manner by developing plans to accomplish something, as opposed to only being interested in highlighting what’s wrong with Hamden.
There is no other place in Connecticut quite like Hamden. We are in the top ten for population statewide. We have a healthy mix of suburban, urban, and rural areas. We have immense diversity, great cuisines from around the world. We are just outside of New Haven, and 90 minutes from New York City. We have unique features like the Farmington Canal, and Sleeping Giant State Park. Most importantly we have a robust, world-class institution of higher learning, Quinnipiac University, that is anchored in North Hamden and provides millions of dollars in economic activity within our town.
We still have a lot to offer and a lot to be proud of as a town, all the while working to be the best version of ourselves possible. It is long overdue for the bickering and finger pointing to end. It is time for us to roll-up our sleeves and work collaboratively to advance this town that we all love. We all need to keep working, together, to make Hamden an even better place for all of us.
Walter L. Morton IV is the finance committee chair of the Hamden Board of Education. He is also director of legislative affairs for the Town of Hamden.