Board of Education

Superintendent: District To Collect Vaccination Status of New Canaan Public Schools Families

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Anticipating that the question of requiring masks in school could become local even sooner than mid-February, the district this week will reach out to school parents to verify their own families’ vaccination status so that the data is in hand when the time comes to make a local decision, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said Monday. District officials will draft a plan for the Board of Education’s review that looks at “local data and metrics to make that determination for the district,” Luizzi said during the school board’s regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. That data will include vaccination rates, percentage of positive cases, number of cases per 100,000 and “longitudinal trends” that indicate “which way the numbers are moving,” Luizzi said during an update to the Board of Ed on COVID-19. “We are going to be working with our district health advisors and narrow that down and figure out what those ‘cut points’ should be, as we have some experience in the past. To prepare for that, now that the second [COVID-19 vaccine] shot clinic has occurred, we are going to be asking families to indicate their vaccination status for us.

Board of Education

Board of Ed Candidates Debate Curriculum Development 

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Candidates for the Board of Education this week debated whether changes should be made to the process through which curriculum long has been developed and approved for New Canaan Public Schools. As it is, a team of educators led by the superintendent—known as the Curriculum Leadership Council or “CLC”—draft, continuously review, update and approve curriculum so that New Canaan’s schools are meeting educational standards set by agencies such as the Connecticut Department of Education. The Board of Ed receives regular presentations on curriculum—a practice that has slowed amid the COVID-19 pandemic—and in cases of large-scale changes to those standards, the school board dedicates even more time at its meetings to corresponding decisions such as new classes or updates to the district’s goals and objectives. While Republican candidates for the Board of Ed said they’re not advocating for public meetings of the CLC (such as through appointment of a school board member to it), they called during Tuesday night’s League of Women Voters debate for the ability to weigh in on its development earlier and with greater detail and frequency than the elected body currently does. “I think that what we are pushing for is more oversight, more balanced thoughtful oversight at periodic stages,” GOP candidate Dan Bennett said during the debate, held at Town Hall.

Board of Education

Podcast: Board of Ed Candidate Dan Bennett

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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 Dan Bennett. The Republican is one of eight total candidates seeking a four-year term on the school board Nov. 2. There are five four-year seats up for election. There also is a contested two-person race for a two-year Board of Ed term.

Dan Bennett

Republicans Back New Slate of Board of Ed Candidates for November Election; Complete Caucus Results

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In a dramatic vote Tuesday night, New Canaan Republicans endorsed a new slate of Board of Education candidates who are seeking to reset the priorities of the influential elected body and how it interacts with district administrators. The incumbent chair and secretary of the Board of Ed both fell short of securing party backing at the GOP caucus, held at New Canaan High School. The high vote-getter among school board candidates, Dan Bennett, said during the 2.5-hour caucus that the campaign he, Hugo Alves, Philip Hogan and Julie Toal ran has been “focused on improved transparency, a more accessible Board, accountability to the community and parents and better communication to the community and engaged oversight.”

“Our platform has had a few things—kids come first, and that means in everything,” Bennett said. “In academic excellence, in school start times implementation, in block scheduling, in trying to keep schools open full-time for kids heading into next year and certainly trying to get masks off kids so that they can have the most normal learning experience possible in this great school system. Secondly, it is transparency, accessibility, accountability and oversight.

Board of Education

Election 2021 Republican Caucus: Board of Education Candidate Dan Bennett

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New Canaan resident Dan Bennett is seeking the endorsement of the Republican Party for a seat on the elected Board of Education. We put some questions to Bennett about his candidacy. Our exchange follows. New Canaanite: Tell us about yourself—how long have you lived in New Canaan, what have you been involved with here in town and what has led you to seek elected office? Dan Bennett: We have lived in New Canaan for over seven years.