cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 14, Number 12
Architectural firm chosen for new elementary schools Citizen staff
The building committee in charge of recommending an architectural firm to design two new elementary schools for the town has chosen Tecton Architects to lead both projects. The recommendation now goes to the Town Council for final approval. The Next Generation Building Committee unanimously made the
decision at its March 9 meeting. The committee has been in the process of making a selection for an architect since January, reviewing 12 firms that submitted proposals. Previously, the committee discussed whether to choose one or two firms to design a new Norton and an as-yet-to-be-named school on the north end, See Firm, A10
Cheshire Academy names Town Scholar Press Release
The scholarship program, which originated in 1938, Cheshire Academy has an- provides one eighth grade nounced that Avery Cheshire student the opFowler is its 2023 Town portunity to attend CA Scholar, earning the stuthroughout high dent a full four-year schol- school. Applicants must arship to the academy. submit an essay explainAvery and her family cele- ing why they should be named Town Scholar, brated the Town Scholar among other requiredesignation during a March 10 ceremony at the ments. school.
See Scholar, A11
GRAND OPENING
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Proposed legislation would expand access to maternal health services By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni Record-Journal staff
The national maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was nearly three times higher than that for non-Hispanic women in 2020. In Connecticut, state health officials reported that babies born to Black mothers were significantly more likely to die before their first birthday than babies born to white women in 2017. Babies born to Black mothers are also twice as likely as babies from white mothers to have a low birth weight, under six pounds, which can lead to severe health and development issues. “In our state and in this nation, we have a maternal health crisis where Black birthing people are suffering consequences more than any other birthing population,” state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said testifying before the legislature’s Public Health Committee, March 14. The committee hearing was held to discuss Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed Senate bill that would implement nu-
Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of Connecticut Department of Public Health. Image via CT-N
merous statutes and programs to increase access to maternal health services. SB 986 hopes to address these disparities by creating a license category for birth centers, establishing state certification processes for doulas and midwives and opening a universal nursing visitation program for new parents.
Licensed birth centers Unlike a maternity ward in a hospital, birth centers are freestanding healthcare facilities licensed to provide prenatal, labor, delivery and postpartum care to persons
with low-risk pregnancies, according to the bill. If passed, SB 986 would create a new license category to open more birthing centers throughout the state, said Juthani. “This will allow birth centers to fill both geographic gaps that may exist within our state and also provide lower cost and family-friendly opportunities for earning people to have less medicalized births in our state,” she said in her testimony. The Connecticut Childbirth and Women’s Center is the only standalone birthing center in the state. See Maternity, A8
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Thursday, March 23, 2023