THINK ABOUT IT! Casino Will Impact Our Kids and Schools

Dear Members of the Milford community:

I am writing today to express my concerns as a Milford parent of a young child. The effects of a casino built in our town are far reaching, but will affect no one more than the youth. I urge everyone to take a hard look at more than dollar signs when they vote Nov. 19.

As the parent of a young daughter, I am deeply concerned about the impacts to public safety resulting from a casino, particularly the safety of our kids. A casino will be open 24 hours a day—not only increasing our daily traffic woes, but also potentially releasing drunk drivers on our roads at all hours. How safe will our kids be at the bus stop?

Another casino impact that I believe should concern all parents is the impact to our public schools. Foxwoods says they will "improve" our schools, but that is not the case. Their plan is to simply pay for the costs of educating their casino workers’ kids who move into town and to pay for the state funding we will LOSE. Foxwoods says we can expect only 21 new students to be added to our schools, but I find that very hard to believe. If we allow the casino to be built, will our schools become overcrowded? How will that affect the quality of education in Milford?

A casino is not the right choice for Milford. On behalf of our kids, please vote NO on Nov. 19!

CATHERINE VILLANO

Milford