Election 2025: Board of Education Candidate Josh Kaye [Q&A]

New Canaan resident Josh Kaye, a Democrat, is seeking election to the Board of Education. The Dems hold three of nine seats on the school board. Five seats are up for election: two currently held by Democrats, three by Republicans. There are three Democrats and three Republicans running for Board of Ed, as well as one write-in candidate.

Here’s our exchange with Kaye. 

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New Canaanite: Please give us some background on you, including your history in New Canaan and your involvement with community organizations and/or local government/New Canaan Public Schools.

Josh Kaye: I’ve lived in New Canaan with my wife and our two kids, who are now in first and fourth grades at East School, for more than five years. Having grown up in Wilton, I already knew New Canaan well, so the transition to life here was a smooth and happy one. 

For work, I’m a lawyer. I have spent most of my career as a litigator and moved to a joint legal and business role a few years ago. With Penny Rashin, currently the only attorney serving on the Board of Education, retiring, I hope to continue providing the Board of Education with the unique perspective a lawyer can bring to the table. 

Since moving to town, I’ve been actively involved in our community. For the last three years I have served as an appointed member of the New Canaan Ethics Board and currently serve as Chair. I am also on the Board of New Canaan Chamber Music and recently began a term as Chair.

I also enjoy spending time volunteering in activities centered around my kids. A few of my favorite activities this year include coaching my daughter’s kindergarten softball team and volunteering at the East School Field Day, where I was in charge of the three-legged race.

What are your thoughts about the way curriculum is developed for New Canaan Public Schools and what changes, if any, would you make to the process?

We have a curriculum development process in New Canaan that works. We are lucky to have a team of highly trained and experienced professionals who do a phenomenal job in the technical work of designing our curriculum. And the result of their work speaks for itself. In the most recent Connecticut Statewide Assessment, New Canaan students achieved the highest scores across the state in every single category. Test scores are only a piece of the picture, and there is always room for incremental improvement, but they are a strong indication that we are succeeding. 

While there has been discussion of inserting parents into the technical process of developing curriculum, my view is that it is unnecessary and has the potential to impair a process that is functioning well. Parents deserve transparency into what their children are learning. And if a parent has a concern about an element of the curriculum for their child, the school should work with that parent to find a reasonable accommodation. But it would be disruptive for a handful of parents who do not necessarily have any training in education, let alone curriculum development, to parachute into the middle of the technical process of curriculum development to dictate what other children should and should not be able to learn.

To what extent, if at all, will your party’s national agenda affect your decision-making at the local level?

We are in one of the most divisive periods in national politics in recent memory. New Canaan students aren’t served when that division spills over into decision-making on our Board of Education. Every decision the Board of Education makes should be based on an analysis of what our students need and what is best for our community. The Board of Education should never be used as a platform to take a stand on national issues. As a Board of Education member, I will do my part to foster a collaborative, non-partisan atmosphere where there is a respectful exchange of differing viewpoints in service of decision-making that best serves our students and our town. 

What are your thoughts on the proposed North School? In your view, what are the upsides to that project? What are the red flags, if any?

While there would be many benefits to building a North School, the project would be a huge investment for our community. And to make the best decision for New Canaan, we need to have all of the facts. 

In particular, we need a better understanding of not only the construction costs, but also the recurring expense of operating an additional school. Schools cost money to operate. A North School would need its own administrators and support staff and have its own physical plant to maintain. And there are other concerns that have been raised that should be addressed as well, including about the suitability of the property because of wetlands and how traffic will be managed on the surrounding roads.

We also need the Board of Education to dive deeper into exploring alternatives that would address growing enrollment and aging schools. If elected to the Board of Education, I will not be afraid to ask the hard questions, such as what are the possibilities for expanding one or more of the existing elementary schools? If we did not build or renovate, what solutions could we look to, if any, to manage student population? What do parents and tax payers want?

Ultimately, for any project to move forward, the Board of Education will need to build consensus and work with the other town bodies, including the Board of Selectmen, Town Council, Finance Committee, as well as the community at large. And to do that, we will need to have solid, reliable answers to these and other questions. 

What is one change or new initiative that you would like to see through as a Board of Ed member, if there is one?

Our schools are consistently ranked first in the state and among the top schools in the nation. An important part of why I am running for the Board of Education is to maintain that excellence. Schools like ours cannot be taken for granted. We need a Board of Education that recognizes the many things that are working in our district and, through competent administration and governance, avoids unnecessary disruption that does not serve our schools or community. 

With that said, we always need to be looking for areas for improvement and innovation to maintain excellence in our schools. One area that I believe needs continued attention relates to changing technology in two areas in particular. 

First, advances in artificial intelligence in the last few years have been dramatically changing education. In the immediate term, we need to make sure that the wide availability of AI isn’t getting in the way of our students learning fundamental skills like reading, writing and research. But we also need to recognize that AI is likely going to be part of the working life of almost every single New Canaan High School graduate in one way or another. In the medium and longer term, we should be thinking deliberately about how we might incorporate AI into our curriculum so that our graduates are well-equipped to succeed. 

Second, I’m very pleased with the progress our school district has made in limiting access to phones in schools. I want to continue evaluating whether further steps to limit the availability of phones in schools would be beneficial and be vigilant about the detrimental impacts of social media on our kids, including cyberbullying. 

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.

I’m an accomplished violinist. Growing up, I would take the train into New York to play in orchestras and string quartets and was the concertmaster of my college orchestra, which is where I met my wife (who played the oboe). Now, playing violin is a hobby I still enjoy and it helps inform my work for New Canaan Chamber Music. And, if elected to the Board of Education, support for the arts will be one of the areas I’ll be able to contribute.