Norwich — Board of Education Chairwoman Yvette Jacaruso sent a strongly worded letter to Norwich Free Academy officials Thursday, along with a signed copy of the new five-year contract that sends Norwich high school students to the academy.

In the three-page letter, Jacaruso repeated opinions expressed during the Board of Education's 5-3 vote Wednesday to approve the contract.

Jacaruso also offered to arrange a meeting between Norwich public school officials, NFA and newly appointed state Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell to discuss the concerns and the soured relationship.

“Although the Board ultimately authorized the execution of the successor contract between the parties,” Jacaruso wrote in the letter, “I continue to believe that such a meeting would prove beneficial, and would demonstrate the Academy's commitment to repairing the relationship between the parties. Kindly let me know if Academy officials are willing to participate in such a meeting.”

Jacaruso also outlined several concerns the board has with the new NFA contract, which takes effect July 1 and runs through June 30, 2020.

Items listed included a proposal to limit tuition increases, concerns about how special education costs are allocated, how enrollments are calculated and how disputes in the contract would be resolved.

“The Academy declined to respond to multiple written communications that set out the Board's concerns regarding the contract being offered,” Jacaruso wrote, “and the final contract offered by the Academy did not address the most significant areas of disagreement between the parties.”

NFA board of trustees Chairman Theodore Phillips said Thursday he has not yet received the Norwich letter and signed contract —which were picked up at the Norwich school central office Thursday morning by an NFA official — and would not comment on the letter.

He said any response would have to be discussed by the board of trustees before being released.

The five-page contract achieved NFA's goal of having one uniform contract for all eight partner districts, except for one paragraph that calls for giving Norwich $200 per student “in recognition of the fire and police protection provided by the sending Board's municipality.”

The Norwich discount had been $100 per student for more than 30 years in an unwritten policy to cover host city emergency services. Phillips said the increase will not be paid by the other seven towns, but through the privately funded NFA Foundation.

The foundation also agreed to contribute $1.2 million to NFA's operating budget in 2015-16 to keep the tuition increase at 2.5 percent.

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