“As I said last spring, the spring of 2020, I think this is an extremely important initiative for our nation and our community. I also think that there’s a lot of really bad ideas around it. Very dogmatic ideas. And they tend to use a vocabulary of their own making. And their terms that are very loaded, there are very well-developed bodies of thought behind them that have been developed in academia. I think we would do well for using our own words, generally, throughout this process. What you just described, I would feel much more comfortable using our own words—‘How do we think about this?’—rather than one that’s been handed to us and has a lot of lot of loaded meaning in it. And I think this has got to be a guidepost for us as we go through this, is that every idea needs to be an original idea based on our thinking about it, and clear thinking about it, and putting it into our own words. So if we could scrub words that have been handed to us out of this stuff, it would be really important for setting that tone of doing what we think is right and in an original way … I want to see this goal happen. If you look at New Canaan, our greatest challenge—it’s obvious—is that it is an incredibly un-diverse place racially and ethnically, compared to our society at whole. And so our kids are in an environment that puts them at a disadvantage in that regard. It’s not reflective of the larger world that we live in, and so we have a big challenge for our own kids and also so that they can contribute to it in a positive way to what we want this country to be. But we need to do it our way if we are going to be successful. And if we are spoon-fed it from whomever, it’s going to be detrimental and it’s not going to get us to where we want to go … This is an area where we owe some progress this year. We had a lot of former students reach out to us last spring, the spring of 2020. No excuses—obviously we got very busy with hands that were dealt to us, and we prioritized things appropriately. But hopefully as we get some more periods of normalcy, we can make progress in this area. Our kind of progress.”
— Republican Board of Education member Carl Gardiner at the Sept. 8, 2021 BOE meeting, on a district goal related to diversity, equity, and inclusion
The race
The major contested race in Tuesday’s municipal election is for the Board of Education.
There are six seats up for election on the nine-member body—five four-year terms and one two-year term.
Among the five four-year seats up for election, three currently are held by Republicans and two by Democrats. The GOP also holds the two-year seat.
Given state law regarding minority representation, no party can have a majority of more than 6-3 on this Board of Ed.
That means Republicans could win up to four of the six total Board of Ed seats up for election, while Democrats could win up to five.
Three Republicans (Dan Bennett, Phil Hogan and Julie Toal) and five Democrats (Janet Fonss, Jenn Hladick, Fatou Niang, incumbent Penny Rashin and Erica Schwedel) are seeking election to four-year terms.
One Republican (Hugo Alves) and one Democrat (Karen Willett) are seeking the two-year term.
What this is
In what follows, we share our opinions as to the key issues facing and most important criteria for Board of Ed candidates. We then outline our own positions on the issues and which candidates we’re endorsing because, in our estimation, they best meet that criteria.
We limited ourselves to what the candidates have said publicly over the last three months in Q&As, podcast interviews and during public addresses such as at caucuses and debates.
While we acknowledge how much attention the race is getting—our caucus/endorsement meeting coverage ranked among the most-read articles this summer, and the podcasts with candidates so far have garnered some 3,000 total downloads—we did not consider any social media posts, opinions of local political committees or assertions from other individuals or groups supporting specific slates.
A few general comments: First, in our opinion, no matter who’s elected to the Board of Ed on Nov. 2, there’s no “disaster scenario” for New Canaan.
These are all high-caliber people and neighbors, and from what they’ve said publicly the 10 candidates agree on most things—for example, that the new school start times schedule should go forward, that communication to public schools parents could be improved and that the district’s Curriculum Leadership Council should continue as it currently is constituted, with its own administrative meetings separate and apart from the elected Board of Ed or general public.
These BOE candidates deserve a thank-you for signing up to take a significant amount of time away from their families and other activities in order to volunteer on the Board of Ed. It ranks high among the most consequential, closely scrutinized and time-consuming boards in New Canaan. In truth, this year’s candidates already have been through an ordeal just in the campaign season.
We also recognize that, once elected or appointed, those who join the most demanding public boards and commissions in New Canaan—the Boards of Selectmen and Finance, Town Council and Planning & Zoning Commission fall into the same category—face steep learning curves, regardless of what prompted them to join. We have already seen this specific group of BOE candidates start climbing that learning curve—for example, though some referenced “critical race theory” at the caucuses and through the summer, the term wasn’t uttered once at last week’s two-hour debate (despite two rather open-ended questions regarding curriculum).
Many residents, and certainly this news outlet, have become far better educated in recent months with respect to New Canaan Public Schools curriculum, thanks largely to discussions prompted by these candidates for the Board of Ed, and we are grateful to them.
Finally, we think that New Canaan voters should make decisions on each candidate for the school board rather than in slates. We have looked on, disappointed, as this Board of Ed race became highly politicized by the far ends of the spectrum, prompting us to disallow comments on all election-related posts (including this one). We think messages to “Vote Row A” or “Vote Row B” are at odds with the nonpolitical nature of the Board of Ed and undermine the individual strengths and qualifications of the candidates.
We follow that approach in making our endorsements below. And in cases where we don’t feel that one Board of Ed candidate is clearly more suited to the role than another, we will simply review what we perceive to be their unique qualifications.
Issues and criteria
The Board of Ed’s oversight of New Canaan Public Schools administration, and the elected body’s transparency, are two related issues that have emerged as clear differences among candidates. Some have called for increased oversight and transparency, while others say there already is sufficient oversight and transparency.
In addition, we have identified two criteria to help guide our endorsements.
First, in a year that will see two-thirds of the school board turn over, we think it’s important to have clarity on candidates’ positions with respect to key issues.
Second, since the next school board will be charged with addressing several highly charged, complex matters—such as uncertainty regarding masks in school after the governor’s order expires, progress on the Board’s diversity, equity and inclusion goal and implementation of the new start times schedule—we believe that a candidate should have a demonstrated ability to work well with others, including those with opposing points of view. In evaluating this criteria, we will not only look at last week’s debate, but also at each candidate’s past experience in serving with local nonprofit or other volunteer groups.
Where we stand
We think there is sufficient oversight and transparency on the Board of Ed.
Parents moving to New Canaan—and scores of new home-owning families have chosen this town over others this past year-plus—often cite the public schools as their primary reason for making that choice. Rightly so: The schools are in an excellent place, thanks largely to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi, district administrators, faculty and staff, and to the hard-working, elected Board of Ed.
In our opinion, Luizzi has earned a high degree of trust and respect from the school board. We’re not merely pointing to the district’s success here, for example, its consistent and recent No. 1 statewide rankings or singular ability to keep kids in school amid the pandemic. We believe Luizzi has earned that trust and respect through demonstrably transparent operations. For example, prior to Luizzi’s tenure, parents were summoned each year to public hearings during the budget to fight for the BOE’s proposed spending plans. After taking on the job of superintendent, Luizzi and his team overhauled the template for presenting the Board of Ed’s budget, giving town funding bodies a more granular view than they had in the past. As a result, the relationship between the Board of Ed and town improved markedly, and a more focused, substantive budget process has unfolded.
We do not think there’s a need for “increased transparency” with respect to the Board of Ed or district. Those advocating for it have been unable through this campaign, including at the debate, to articulate just why they’re pushing for more transparency beyond platitudes such as “the more transparency the better,” or allusions to possible future educational standards that, should they materialize, still would not call for greater transparency or oversight of district administrators in New Canaan.
We think that the school board has sufficient opportunity to weigh in on curriculum under the current system. We do not see an advantage to having the Board of Ed participate even earlier in its development by the trained professional educators of the CLC, any more than we would want the citizen volunteers who oversee the New Canaan Police or Health Departments making such specific decisions with respect to public safety or public health.
We also do not believe a change is warranted with respect to oversight of curriculum development by the school district. We see nothing in the track record of this public schools administration that says there’s a risk it will mismanage the instruction and assessment whereby our students achieve educational standards. Not only is the full NCPS curriculum widely available to view, and with changes to it noted, the Board of Ed also receives presentations on curriculum on a regular basis and already gives feedback to the CLC. The school board plays an even larger role when major changes to state standards prompt corresponding redesigns to NCPS curriculum. Asked earlier this month what it would mean for the Board of Ed to provide updates on each change to the K-12 curriculum, Luizzi said during a podcast (at the 16:30 mark here) that that likely would only slow down the work of the CLC for the sake of gaining information such as “we changed question 15 on this test” or “we are not using this packet, we’re going to use this website and this packet for that information.” In our view, that level of oversight would amount to micromanagement that not only is unwarranted but also is unrealistic given the degree of flexibility that New Canaan’s outstanding teachers require in order to do their jobs well.
We also note here that the call from some candidates for greater “transparency” is different from what all candidates agree is a need for greater communication from the Board out to the wider community. With the pandemic bringing more of their children’s schooling into their homes, many parents who did not pay attention to the Board of Ed before are now more attuned. The elected body clearly is under far greater scrutiny now than it had been even two years ago, and we agree that commensurate changes are needed to the way it seeks and receives feedback from NCPS families, to how it communicates with parents and to the navigability of the district website.
Endorsements, four-year terms
We enthusiastically endorse Fatou Niang’s candidacy for the Board of Ed. She’s been clear in supporting the way the Board of Ed currently operates with respect to overseeing Luizzi as well as in tracking and updating NCPS curriculum. She has a long track record of volunteer service in New Canaan, including on multiple nonprofit boards, and has been respectful, if direct, in addressing those with opposing points of view at public meetings and at last week’s debate. We think that Niang’s journey to becoming more involved in the public schools last year reflects this community’s defining values of generosity and care for one’s neighbors. She took what must’ve been the deeply painful experience in 2020 of learning that one of her own sons had suffered quietly after experiencing racial discrimination in a middle school classroom, and in an act of generosity turned that experience into a positive for the wider community by sharing it with the Board of Ed. Asked during our podcast series what she would be most excited to do if elected to the Board of Ed, Niang answered without hesitation, “the DEI,” a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion. We agree with the assertions that then-Board of Ed member Carl Gardiner made with respect to the district’s DEI goal, as transcribed in the long quote at the top of this opinion piece. We also applaud Board of Ed Chair Katrina Parkhill’s observation in responding to Gardiner that “New Canaan has shown its ability to be creative and thoughtful and, together as a community, to identify and collaborate around the importance of this [goal] and assign priorities.” Parkhill added, “It’s a long-term plan that would be developed out of this.” For the above-stated reasons, we think that Niang is best-positioned among all candidates to help develop that plan, and work toward addressing what Gardiner correctly identified as the district’s “greatest challenge.”
We also enthusiastically endorse Janet Fonss and Penny Rashin for four-year terms on the school board.
Fonss has been clear and consistent in her support for the way the Board of Ed oversees the administration and in its current role with respect to curriculum development. Like Niang and others we interviewed throughout the summer, she said at the debate that “there is room” for a subcommittee of the Board of Ed that would review the CLC’s progress in curriculum development without interfering with that group’s work. Together with Rashin, Fonss is the only Democrat who committed to running for the school board prior to the Republicans’ July caucus. Fonss long has been active as a volunteer in the community, including in the public schools and in nonprofits that serve New Canaan youth. She’s collegial and collaborative. Fonss also made the most astute observation during last week’s debate in noting that district officials already craft curriculum “according to New Canaan needs.” She said, “Our administrators know our community extremely well, and I don’t think there’s any chance they would craft anything that’s not appropriate for our community.” We agree.
Rashin during the debate demonstrated why historical knowledge of the Board of Ed is important in a year where two-thirds of the elected body could turn over. She’s very clear in her position that the Board of Ed already operates well with respect to overseeing the district administration and in how curriculum is developed for NCPS. Out of all 10 candidates, she is most familiar with the intricacies of how the Board of Ed functions—how it reaches consensus, what state and federal agencies guide curriculum and policies, what is the framework for the budget and negotiations with unions and how its subcommittees work. A litigator by profession, Rashin also has developed expertise in infrastructure over the course of three BOE terms. She helped lead the Saxe Middle School committee that oversaw the renovation and expansion there, and has been an important voice for school families in recent months as a member of the Police Department Building Committee.
We also enthusiastically endorse Erica Schwedel. Her positions with respect to BOE oversight and transparency are clear and in line with ours, and she is a strong communicator with a track record of community involvement, including with the public schools. We think Schwedel’s professional background in education will serve the BOE well and, based on her podcast interview and remarks at the debate, that she is able to listen and effectively respond to those with a different point of view. We also note that Schwedel voiced concerns about the previously planned spring 2022 rollout of a new start times schedule during our podcast in September, prior to the Board of Ed effectively deciding at a more recent meeting to push it back to the fall.
Jenn Hladick and Julie Toal also would be good fits for the Board of Ed, in our opinion. Hladick is clear on her positions. During the podcast especially, we found her to be insightful and articulate in communicating why there’s no reason to change the way the BOE currently operates with respect to its oversight function or curriculum development. She has professional experience in education and showed herself to have a firmer grasp than other candidates on the wider picture of DEI in education. Although we don’t see real substance in what Toal has described as a need for more BOE involvement in curriculum oversight, and we are still unclear as to just how that oversight would look, we found her to be a good communicator and listener during the debate, where she repeatedly, clearly and respectfully addressed points raised by her opponents. We think that her past leadership positions as a community volunteer better prepare her for a BOE seat than some others.
Dan Bennett is smart, well-spoken, candid and probing, yet we do not agree with his call for increased BOE oversight and transparency. His position that the BOE should have a more traditional board oversight role with respect to the New Canaan Public Schools administration is not warranted, and we think it could risk disrupting the high-performing district leaders and highly functional system now in place. We also are not clear, despite the question being raised directly during the debate by other candidates, on what is behind the call for more “transparency” or just how the greater BOE involvement with K-12 curriculum development would play out. During the debate, Bennett appeared to confuse a BOE discussion of district goals with curriculum, and we believe other candidates are stronger in that they have track records of community volunteering.
Phil Hogan is energetic, engaging and refreshingly candid. Yet we do not think he’s a good fit for the Board of Ed right now. We do not agree with Hogan’s positions on transparency and oversight, and we do not think any substantial change to the ways the BOE oversees or interacts with district leaders is warranted. Hogan also appeared during the debate to focus on one word contained in the DEI goals discussed by the BOE during its Sept. 8 meeting without understanding the wider context of its terminology or seeing the positive outcome of that difficult conversation, which involved Gardiner and Parkhill, among others. That raised questions for us about his preparation for the debate, and his understanding of how the school board functions with respect to its guiding goals and objectives. We also think that others seeking four-year terms on the school board have stronger candidacies in that they have longer track records of volunteering here.
Endorsements, two-year term
Both Hugo Alves and Karen Willett would make excellent Board of Ed members. Each would rank very high on our list of candidates if they were running for four-year seats, and we think it’s New Canaan’s loss that one of them will oust the other in this head-to-head race. Whoever prevails will bring unique skills to the school board.
We found Alves at the caucus, during our podcast interview and at the debate to be clear, composed, engaging and responsive. Though we do not agree with his position with respect to a need for increased BOE oversight, we think that Alves’s background in finance would serve the the school board well, especially in a year that will see one of the most experienced longtime Board members with an especially strong grasp on BOE spending, Dionna Carlson, step down. Alves also has a solid record of volunteering with the community, offering his financial expertise as a member of the New Canaan Museum and Historical Society Board. Like Toal, we think Alves would be a very good fit in terms of temperament and would work well with fellow BOE members at this critical time.
Willett is a smart, clear thinker with more experience in dealing directly with the BOE and district leadership than any other candidate this year with the exception of Rashin. She successively helped spearhead efforts to change school start times in New Canaan, staying with that initiative in the face of wide division in the community and a very slow, deliberate process on the side of the Board of Ed and school district. Willett’s volunteer service to the community also includes her involvement at the elementary school level. We found Willett during our podcast interview and at the debate to be nimble and frank, and we agree with her clearly stated positions with respect to BOE oversight and transparency.
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