New Britain Approves Bonding for Textbooks

New Britain's Common Council has approved borrowing money for new textbooks and other improvements to the city's schools.

The New Britain Herald reports that the council voted 13-2 Monday night to approve $9.9 million in bonding.

The city plans to spend about $2 million of that on a new series of English Language Arts textbooks for elementary and middle school students.

They also plan to spend $2.1 million to equip every class with either a projector or smart-board technology.

School Board Chair Sharon Beloin-Saavedra told the board that 377 of the district's 662 classrooms are not equipped with either option.

The city also agreed to borrow $389,967 to pay for health books for elementary and middle school students and $646,000 to pay for mobile computer labs.