Enfield Democrats' Overwhelming Win Delivers a Message

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Councilmember-elect Linda Allegro, second from left, at the Democrat's watch party, shortly after learning that she won District 1, unseating Republican Mayor Ken Nelson. To the immediate left is former State Rep. Bill Kiner, Councilmember Bob Cressotti, and former State Rep. David Kiner. Taking the photo is Board of Education member-elect Roberta 'Bobbie' Kiner. Enfield Democrats won Tuesday's election by a landslide, capturing an 8-3 Town Council supermajority in what appears to be a clear rejection of local Republican priorities. Democrats received about 63% of the vote in Town Council races and also won the school board. While Republicans may take some solace in the fact that their defeat came amid a statewide Democratic wave, there is evidence that Enfield voters were responding to specific local frustrations with Republican governance. That message may have been most evident in District 1. The Democrats considered this a Republican district, which was won by the D...

Did Enfield make a mistake by opening its schools?

Enfield High School
Enfield High School, fall, 2020

On Sept. 23, a covid case was reported at Enfield High School. The school is closing for the next two days. It will shift to remote learning.

Health authorities are contact tracing. Other schools in this state have reported covid cases. Some think this is just the start and schools will be all virtual soon enough. Perhaps not.

The CDC has argued that it’s important to reopen schools for the health and well being of children. It warns of everything from “severe learning loss,” which includes their social development. The schools are also a steady source of nutrition. Those are real problems.

Can Enfield control this? Will contact tracing be effective? Will the school covid cases lead to an increase in adult covid cases in town?

All the school districts are trying their best to get through this, and we will just have to see what happens next.

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