Board of Education

Board of Ed Adopts Policy for Naming of Buildings and Grounds

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The Board of Education on Monday voted unanimously in favor a policy that will allow the elected body to name district buildings and grounds after individuals or groups. 

Created in the wake of a formal agreement between the town and New Canaan Athletic Foundation that’s designed to ensure the long-term viability of the new and re-turfed youth sports fields and track at the high school, the policy calls for the Board to solicit community input, select names and approve changes. “Facility naming shall be considered in cases when it has been recommended to honor a person or organization providing exemplary services or contributions to the New Canaan Public Schools,” according to the policy (which can be found in full here). 

Board members Maria Naughton, Penny Rashin, Dionna Carlson, Brendan Hayes, Tom Cronin and Julie Mackle Reeves voted 6-0 to adopt it after a second read and minor changes. Board members Sheri West, Katrina Parkhill and Jennifer Richardson were absent. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said the policy came forward in conjunction with the NCAF agreement and is designed to establish a process to follow in the event that someone makes a donation that warrants naming rights. “It’s a very big deal to name something after someone,” he said “There should be a relatively high bar, I think, going into something like this, because it’s a significant honor.”

The Board spent time discussing the proposed language in the policy and ultimately decided to do away with a clause specifying that the honored individual or organization must have “an affiliation” with the district.

News

Chairman: Board of Ed Moving Forward on Limited Use of Drug-Sniffing Dogs in Schools

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The Board of Education may adopt a policy that would see drug-sniffing dogs allowed in public schools so long as students are not present during searches or criminalized as a result of them, the elected body’s chairman said Wednesday. 

Board members have talked about the issue in the last two weeks though they’re “somewhat concerned over because they don’t want dogs necessarily coming into schools and causing a problem as it relates to student stress or health,” according to Brendan Hayes. “So we are thinking about that carefully but that may be something that the Board moves forward on, so that we have a policy that governs dog searches which would never occur when kids are actually walking around,” he said during a Candidates Debate, held at Town Hall. “The dogs cannot come into contact with the kids. So we would do that very carefully if we chose to do it.”

The Democrat later added, “I met with Chief [Leon] Krolikowski and the superintendent a number of months ago, talking about this specific issue of we will do nothing if it results in kids being criminalized when they are in school. We will absolutely not do that.

News

Election 2019: Readers’ Letters of Endorsement

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The following letters of endorsement were submitted to NewCanaanite.com. ***

I urge the re-election of Brendan Hayes for the Board of Education. A Democrat with broad bipartisan support, Brendan was elected BOE Chairman last year by a 7-2 vote, including 4 of 6 Republicans. Brendan works hard, is a patient and thoughtful listener, and has the analytical skills one would expect of a highly successful investment banker. He’s a confident and effective advocate for New Canaan’s schools.

News

Letter: Two BOE Members Endorse Brendan Hayes and Julie Reeves

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Editor,

We are writing in support of both Brendan Hayes and Julie Reeves for re-election to the Board of Education. Brendan Hayes works hard to make sure New Canaan Public Schools efficiently educate each child to the fullest. He leverages his financial expertise to ensure that the Board of Education budgets are transparent, clear and deliver the maximum return on our Town’s investment. He serves on the BOE Resource Committee and updated the BOE policy that charges non-BOE entities for using school property. In recognition of his leadership, Brendan was elected Chair of the BOE this year, where he ably stewarded the budget through the town approval process and built strong relationships with town officials. Striving for the highest quality public education for New Canaan’s students comes naturally to Brendan Hayes. Brendan’s parents were teachers and then administrators.

Around Town

Podcast: Restoring the Ponus Ridge Chapel

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Ainsley and Brendan Hayes, new owners of the ca. 1911-built and previously neglected Ponus Ridge Chapel, and Ted Sihpol of Renaissance Partners LLC, general contractor on the closely followed job of restoring it. If you have a memory of the Chapel to share, please send it to Ainsley Hayes at arhayes@me.com. Here are a few photos of the Chapel:

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Christine Saxe and Associates, New Canaan resident specialist ranked as one of America’s Best Real Estate Professionals by Real Trends. View her fine collection of New Canaan homes for sale at halstead.com/christine.