Canceled Black Wall Street event at school fuels controversy

Superintendent defends withdrawal of sponsorship

“We assumed procedures, policies, and expectations were understood by everyone involved in its planning, and we see that this is an area we need to address and improve upon.”

SUFFIELD — A decision to remove school sponsorship from a student-led event planned for Black History Month has drawn outrage from parents, residents, and activists.

The event, which was to bring together members of the town’s Black business community and various student clubs to highlight Black excellence, was themed on Black Wall Street, a notably wealthy, thriving African-american Oklahoma community that was destroyed in 1921 by racial violence.

What exactly caused the cancellation of the Black History Month event as a school event remains at issue, but the school district has since apologized for miscommunication, promised a clearer path for such events going forward, and said it could be held next school year.

While parent Dr. Cassandra Victorvega said she was informed by the district that the event could only go forward as a non-school sponsored activity, Superintendent of Schools Timothy Van Tasel said, in a letter to district parents, that miscommunication derailed it for this year, “We assumed procedures, policies, and expectations were understood by everyone involved in its planning, and we see that this is an area we need to address and improve upon.”

“As for the issues that have slowed the momentum of the Black Wall Street event, the administration certainly bears some responsibility for this,” Van Tasel wrote. “We recognize that we could have provided a more clear roadmap to support the planning that went into this project. Further, we recognize that we erred in our collaborative efforts, and we realize that better communication and clearer expectations could have prevented some of the issues that arose.

Van Tasel said since issues arose with the event, the district has already begun developing an addendum to the Student Activity Handbook “that will establish clear instructions, provide guideposts, and offer structures of support to our students and club advisors for any future events that will be planned.”

He wrote, “our district and school administration remain very hopeful that we can pick up where the event planning of the Black Wall Street event has left off and move ahead with this student-led project.”

The outrage over not allowing the event to move forward this year grew after Vega said she and students in the United Voices club spent months planning it, seeking and finding vendors, and keeping in touch with

— Timothy Van Tasel, Superintendent of Schools, in a letter to district parents

opportunity zone.

Exceptions include Carrier Corp. LLC’S plan for 25 traditional single-family houses off Morea Road, which won wetlands approval last spring, but has been stalled by a lawsuit. In addition, projects on Red Oak Hill and Talcott Notch will be exempt.

The town, like many other neighboring affluent suburbs of Hartford, is below the state benchmark for maintaining at least 10% of its housing stock as affordable.

The state’s controversial 8-30g law sets a goal that 10% of each municipality’s housing stock qualify as affordable housing. If that goal is not met in a community, developers may propose projects that are not subject to local zoning laws if they dedicate 30% of a housing complex to affordable housing.

“Traditionally, if P&Z denies a building application, proof of burden in court falls to the developer,” Rutherford said. “But under 8-30g, the proof of burden would fall to P&Z instead. It puts the town at risk of a hostile developer.”

As of last year, about 7.9% of houses and apartments in Farmington qualified as affordable under state guidelines. That’s well above some neighboring communities such as Avon, which has just 4.11%, or Granby at 3.28%.

But the moratorium remains controversial, as critics say the town is at risk of losing business with developers looking elsewhere negatively impacting the town for years to come.

“It would be very difficult for businesses to attract or retain workers, for seniors to remain in the community, and for young people to move or remain in town,” said the housing advocacy group Desegregatect in a letter addressed to the commission. “Aside from these concerns, the legality of the moratorium is questionable at best.”

In a letter to the town, attorney Timothy Hollister, representing The Connecticut Homebuilders and Remodeling Association, called the moratorium “not necessary, and in the alternative likely over-broad, and for an unreasonable duration.” Hollister went on to say that the moratorium represents a “broad suspension of property rights.”

But the town fired back with town attorney Robert Decrescenzo stating in a letter that “the scope of the moratoria is reasonable, given the stated purpose” and that “given the potential complexity of the regulation changes that may be necessary, a one year moratorium is reasonable.”

It remains unclear if any legal challenges will be brought against the town now that the moratoria has been approved.