Board of Education

‘Politics Divide School Communities’: Board of Ed Chair Addresses Partisanship at Final Meeting

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New Canaan’s longtime Board of Education chair during her final meeting last week expressed gratitude to the district’s administration, fellow school board members, municipal officials and the wider community while also calling for an end to partisanship. Katrina Parkhill, a school board member for nearly seven years and its chair for the past four—encompassing the entire COVID-19 pandemic—said she had three messages after reflecting on her time on the elected body, starting with “stay the course.”

“I believe that the foundation of our school system’s success is predicated on how we, and so many before us, work together to lead our district forward, maintain a culture of mutual trust and respect, and put students at the center of everything we do,” Parkhill said a final Board meeting for herself and fellow BOE member Bob Naughton, held Nov. 6 in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School (the eve of Election Day). 

“These are qualities that have defined New Canaan Public Schools for years and we should never take them for granted,” she continued. “As we continue to move through this challenging and transformative period in education and in our nation, we must continue to lean into these qualities and nurture and respect how we got here. Most of our policies and Board practices have been in place for a long time, and they have served us well.

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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.

Board of Education

District Hires 44 Educators for Upcoming School Year; Higher Pay Offered To More Active Substitute Teachers

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District officials said this week that they’re offering more money to substitute teachers who commit to working three more days within a week. New Canaan Public Schools administrators met this summer with two companies that “professionally secure substitute candidates” in order to address a recurring shortage within the district, according to Director of Human Resources Darlene Pianka. While discussing the issue among members of the administration’s “cabinet,” Director of Finance Sean O’Keefe shared the higher-pay strategy that came out of Greenwich. “So if a substitute is working for us and commits to working three or more days within a week, we’re looking to offer more money, and hope to secure them for us,” Pianka said during an update on hiring at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

“And we put that out there on the website and hopefully announce that in public. We’ll see how that goes.

Board of Education

Board of Ed Divided on Filling Vacant Seat [UPDATED]

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Republicans on the Board of Education said last week that they won’t fill a vacancy on the elected body because it could interfere with the party’s upcoming Caucus. Former Chair Dan Bennett resigned April 26. Under Section 7-4 of the Town Charter, the Board of Ed can fill a vacancy prior to the next municipal election, where a successor is elected to fill the balance of the term (Bennett’s four-year term expires in 2025). “If the Board of Education fails to fill any vacancy which occurs on the Board within 90 days after the vacancy occurs, the Board of Selectmen may fill such vacancy until the next biennial municipal election,” according to the Charter. During a special meeting held July 5, Board of Ed Chair Katrina Parkhill said, “Of note and interest to this Board, the Charter language suggests that it would like the Board to act, but also acknowledges that there could be circumstances under which the Board cannot or chooses not to act.”

“Since May, our Board has undergone a process to evaluate candidates who wanted to be considered for the vacancy,” Parkhill continued at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and via videoconference.

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Board of Ed Unanimously Elects Katrina Parkhill as Chair, Phil Hogan as Vice Chair

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The Board of Education on Monday night elected Katrina Parkhill as chair. A Republican member of the Board since 2017 who served as chair through the COVID-19 pandemic—from late-2019 through last November—Parkhill was unanimously elected during a brief organizational meeting at the start of the BOE’s regular meeting. In nominating Parkhill, Board member Hugo Alves said, “I’d like to nominate Katrina to be chair of the board if she’d do it again.”

“Obviously it’s been an interesting time and an unfortunate one considering the circumstances, but Katrina has at least proven to me and the rest of us in town that she not only cares about the town, cares about the school system, she’s got the experience to lead and I think that whatever transition we experience over the course of the rest of the year, it would be helpful and important to have some continuity and that level of experience,” Alves said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. Board members Bob Naughton, Brendan Hayes, Parkhill, Erica Schwedel, Alves, Phil Hogan and Penny Rashin voted 7-0 in favor of Parkhill. Board member Julie Toal was absent.