Amy Zinser

‘It’s a Disgrace’: Parents Speak Out on Proposed Earlier Start Time for Elementary Schools

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Pushing the start of elementary school back to 7:45 a.m. would cost local families with two working parents important time together, create problems with respect to childcare and otherwise harm New Canaan’s youngest students, parents said Monday night. When the Board of Education recommended in June that the district pursue a new schedule that also would push the start of New Canaan High School back to 8:20 a.m., it wasn’t clear that the elected body was ruling out a more expensive option that would see all of Saxe Middle School and NCHS start at 8:15 a.m. and all three elementary schools at 9:10 a.m., according to Jennifer Dalipi, mother to one child at South School and one at Saxe. “That was obviously the one that most beneficial to all of our students, no matter their age,” Dalipi told the Board at its regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at the high school. Saying it’s understood that a scenario where New Canaan buses its public schoolchildren in two tiers rather than three would be more expensive (because it would require more buses), Dalipi said she still “cannot fathom that our children’s health, the wellbeing from our tiniest 5-year-old, to be made to get up earlier, in the dark, and get to school, we cannot find the solution.”

“So shame on us as a community if we cannot make it happen. Our high schoolers should not suffer for the little ones, and the little ones should not suffer for the older ones.

Board of Education

Officials Weigh Potential Conflict of Interest for Board of Ed Candidate  

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Though a New Canaan man’s tutoring business need not represent a conflict of interest should he win election to the Board of Education, he likely would be required to recuse himself in specific instances, officials said Monday night. Steve Eno three years ago launched Teachers Who Tutor, an online service designed to connect qualified tutors with the parents and students seeking them. The Democrat is seeking election to the Board of Ed in a contested race this fall. Eno himself requested an advisory opinion from the New Canaan Board of Ethics on whether the tutor matchmaking service represents a conflict of interest with respect to his duties if elected. Board of Ethics Chairman Tucker Clauss noted that the Board of Ed itself is empowered to revise its policies, and if the one regarding tutoring (see below) ever came before the elected body, Eno would need to recuse himself.

News

District: Quality of Food Offered at Saxe Middle School Has Improved Dramatically

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Widely seen as inferior to the high school’s, the quality of cafeteria food at Saxe Middle School has improved dramatically under the district’s new food services director, officials said last week. The menu at Saxe has changed “significantly” under Michelle Santelli, and the cafeteria now has a salad bar with “nice fresh options,” according to Dr. Jo-Ann Keating, director of finance and operations at New Canaan Public Schools. “We moved our cook from the high school over to Saxe last year,” Keating told members of the Board of Education during their Sept. 3 meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “And she is phenomenal, she does a great job and she has brought a lot of that authentic cooking.

Bill Egan

New Rule: No Cellphone Use in NCHS Classrooms

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Starting this year, New Canaan High School students are not permitted to use cellphones in class during the day, Principal Bill Egan said Monday night. In the past, the decision on cellphone use had been left up to individual teachers’ discretion, but the feedback from those educators has been that it’s simply “not a great thing for anyone,” Egan told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting. “The cellphones are a distraction, so we want them out of the classroom,” Egan said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “So they will not be there during the class. They will have cellphone cradles that we will put them in.

Board of Education

Large ‘School Start Times’ Committee To Convene in October

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A committee of about 30 people from the district, town government and wider community will convene in October as the Board of Education pursues a plan that would see New Canaan High School start nearly one hour later than it now does. Scheduled to launch Oct. 21, about one year later than originally planned, the committee will include Board of Education workers such as administrators, teachers and secretaries, as well as parents and representatives from the Town Council and community groups such as the New Canaan YMCA, New Canaan CARES and New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi. “And then we are also going to invite a few folks who from the last year expressed an interest in this, they have stepped forward to communicate with the Board of Ed, to speak at the meetings, to be a part of things,” Luizzi said during an update at the Board of Education’s Aug. 19 meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

“Because what we really want to do is have a wide-ranging committee that is led by a facilitator who has worked with our district before in order to build a baseline understanding of why we do what we do, and then look at what the scenario is that is being presented and have a brainstorming session, as well.”

Presented with several options for further study, the Board of Ed at its June meeting favored a scenario that would see all three elementary schools beginning at 7:45 a.m. all of Saxe Middle School beginning at 9:05 a.m. and NCHS starting at 8:20 a.m.—50 minutes later than the current 7:30 a.m. start time.