Board of Education

Candidates for Four-Year Board of Ed Term Debate Budget, Classroom Topics, Reading Materials

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Though candidates for four-year terms on the New Canaan Board of Education agree that reading materials in school should be age-appropriate—and that no single group of parents should override the decisions of the district’s professionals—they have different ideas on the degree to which such decisions should be overseen by the elected body. Republican Matt Wexler during a debate (watch it here) held Monday night at Town Hall said that he opposes book banning and the filtering of any information “except when it comes to age appropriateness.”

“I think that anything that might be of question should be brought to the town, and we should have discussion on it,” Wexler told a standing-room-only crowd packed into the Town Hall Meeting Room for the candidates’ approximately 70-minute debate, hosted by the League of Women Voters of New Canaan. 

“The parents should be allowed to weigh in, and we should hear all sides,” Wexler continued. “Because ultimately, we’re all parents, we all want what’s best for our children. There are some parents that may want certain exposure, some parents that may not. And ultimately we need to, one, provide the transparency for parents to make their own decision, but two, provide the option for parents to perhaps pull their kids out for that lesson.”

Responding to the same question from the League—regarding a single group of parents within a district prompting “book bans in libraries and classrooms” as per national headlines—Democratic candidate Lauren Connolly Nussbaum said that it’s not an issue in New Canaan because “our teachers and librarians are doing an exceptional job picking age-appropriate texts”

“In addition to that, they’re sharing their syllabi at the beginning of every year and I’m sure many of us in this room have inboxes full of emails from our teachers telling us what books our students will be reading in that semester or year,” Connolly Nussbaum continued.

Opinion

Podcast: First Selectman Candidate Dionna Carlson

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we publish our interviews with two candidates for New Canaan’s highest elected office, starting with Republican Dionna Carlson. We interviewed her as well as Democrat Amy Murphy Carroll at New Canaan Library on the morning of October 13th. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Opinion

Podcast: Board of Ed Candidate Matt Campbell

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Board of Education candidate Matt Campbell. The Republican is seeking one of four four-year seats up for election. There’s also a contested two-person race for a two-year Board of Ed term. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Opinion

Podcast: Board of Ed Incumbent Brendan Hayes

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Board of Education incumbent Brendan Hayes. The Democratic candidate is seeking to retain one of four four-year seats up for election. There’s also a contested two-person race for a two-year Board of Ed term. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

News

Global Citizenship: 50 NCHS Students Participate in ‘Model UN Club’

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New Canaan High School’s Model UN Club promotes a non-U.S.-centric worldview where participating students debate nuanced issues that show them a different perspective and help them become “global citizens,” according to one of the team’s leaders. A central question facing Model UN members is not just “How can I become a good U.S. citizen?” but “How can I become a good global citizen?” according to NCHS senior Melissa Rizzo, who joined Model UN as a fifth-grader at the Zurich International School and continued in New Canaan when she arrived at Saxe Middle School as an eighth grader. A secretary general on the team overseeing three Model UN captions and its executive board, Rizzo said she and others on the team “are exposed to a diverse range of global issues and cultures.” “

“Particularly in The Hague, sitting adjacent to 150 students who are from all over the world, you truly see the different cultures and how it comes into play in debate and how it is important to have an entity such as the UN that addresses issues—global issues—in a way that is individual and productive for each nation,” she told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Monday, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

The comments came prior to the school board voting unanimously to approve an overnight field trip for the NCHS Model UN program. Rizzo in delivering her presentation was joined at the podium by faculty advisor Paul Phillips. Model UN is a program that helps develop research, critical thinking, persuasion, collaboration and public speaking skills, Rizzo said.