Is New Milford Working on It's Bully Problem? Mayor Bass Says Yes

On February 27, 2023, CT Examiner published an article titled: "Parents Call Unchecked Bullying Common Knowledge in New Milford Public Schools."

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The report chronicled case after case of bullying stories from students, former students and parents of the New Milford School District. The takeaway was clear, bullying is a real problem in New Milford Schools at every level and it has been for some time.

New Milford

The school has taken some measures to end, or at least curb bully behavior in recent months under the leadership of the school's brand new Superintendent Janet Parlato but we wanted to know more. What role does the town play in this? Can they help? Are they taking steps to make New Milford Schools safer for all students?

We asked those questions and more to New Milford Mayor Pete Bass. Bass joined the I-95 Morning Show with Ethan, Lou & Dave on Thursday (3/9/23). Below is a transcript of that discussion.

Tell about what has been going on with bullying in town and what steps are being taken?

"We've had a lot of our parents, a few of them came up to the board of education meeting a couple of weeks ago and talked about their actual, personal experiences when it comes to bullying in the school system. Then, prior to that we've been doing a lot in the background looking at kids, especially coming out of COVID when they had isolation issues, they had issues because of the hybrid learning and then, totally remote learning. So, we knew there would be some real gaps especially when it comes to the learning piece and then, the social emotional issues. So, one of the things we did do, prior to Superintendent Parlato coming in was we have a new app that we just rolled out called Anonymous Alerts. Either the child with parental permission or the parents themselves can download this app and it allows you to, in real time report an issue. You can do it anonymously or you can go ahead and pretty much disclose who you are. That is anything from bullying to crime to fighting, there is a whole dropdown list. You can either do it within the school system of where that action would go to the appropriate administrators or here in town. This is a town wide effort where it would be both the town, the police department and our youth agency which runs our juvenile review board."

The Mayor underscored the new Superintendent's efforts since assuming the role just weeks ago. Mayor Bass told us Janet Parlato has been calling concerned parents and speaking directly with them.

Photo: Lou Milano

Find out what extra measures the Town of New Milford is taking to combat this problem in the discussion below.

Listen to our entire Pete Bass interview from Thursday (3/9/23) below. We also spoke about 2023 restaurant week, the NY Jets and Hollywood coming to town.

New Milford Man’ s Chilling Texas Chainsaw Massacre Truck Seen in Monroe

This past weekend’s (6/4/22) Barnum Festival in Monroe, CT was a success by anyone’s measure. It was a place to go see classic cars of all kinds, have some food and see live music. In that sea of automobile madness was a terrifying thing. There was a vehicle with a recognizable and chilling theme, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Truck. I spoke to the truck's owner Sam Gentile from New Milford, to find out how this came together, and why.

Exclusive Photos, Videos, and Interviews on the Set of New Milford Horror Movie

"Candlewood" is a horror film that just finished filming in New Milford, CT. This is how the filmmakers described the project on their Indiegogo:

"Candlewood is the first movie of three in the psychological/horror feature film franchise. A blended family moves from the city to a small town in Connecticut, where a local urban legend adds chaos and terror to an already fragile family dynamic. The staunch patriarch, who desperately wants his family to not see him as a failure but as the father that did everything, he could to keep his family together through difficult times. Candlewood follows a family leaving New York City for a simpler life in the country town of New Milford, CT. The haunting and mysterious true stories of missing hikers near a popular state park, Lover's Leap, coupled with the town of Jerusalem sitting at the bottom of Candlewood Lake gives credibility to our narrative. We bring to life the struggle of good vs evil and what happens when lifelong, outdated traditions are challenged."

A while back I got in touch with the folks behind the movie, invited them on the I-95 Morning Show with Ethan, Lou and Dave and talked about the film, and shooting in New Milford. We spoke with Director Myke Furhman and Writer/Executive Producer Victoria Flores-Argue. During that discussion, I demanded to be in the movie, telling the duo that I have some experience acting on TV shows that never actually made it onto TV. Against all odds, they did invite me to participate and I visited the set on October 20th to shoot a scene that is important. I was extremely nervous and I had zero idea of what I was in for. Below are some insider moments from my day on-set and from others.

Want more New Milford News? If so, check out the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Podcast. The show is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple and Spotify.

Photo: Aurora Photography

Source: Is New Milford Working on It’s Bullying Problem? Mayor Bass Says Yes

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