Election 2021

Election 2021: Contested Races Set for Board of Ed, Constable [TABLE]

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New Canaan Democrats on Monday night nominated six total candidates for the Board of Education, setting up a wide field for contested races in the Nov. 2 election. In unanimously endorsing five candidates for four-year terms on the school board and one candidate for a two-year term, the Democrats are seeking to pick up multiple Board of Education seats. 

Addressing fellow party members during the Democratic Town Committee’s endorsement meeting, the Board of Ed candidates made a point of saying that the elected body should be mission-focused rather than political, and they praised the New Canaan Public Schools administration for leading the high-performing district through the pandemic. Incumbent Board of Ed member Penny Rashin, who is seeking re-election, called Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi “the top superintendent in Connecticut,” saying he and “his incredible administrative team” helped ensure that New Canaan students “spent more time learning in the classroom than any other district in Connecticut.”

“It’s just one example of their foresight, talent, creativity and dedication to our students,” Rashin said during the endorsement meeting, held via videoconference. She added that during her time, “we have been an open, supportive and inclusive school district and Board.”

“And one of the things I think we would say is that 98% of the time we kept politics out of Board of Ed decisions,” she added.

Bill Walbert

Town To Unveil Potential Locations for New Police Station July 8

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Officials say a group that’s been meeting out of the public eye to identify sites around New Canaan where a new Police Department could go will unveil its findings next month. Assigned to the task by First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, the group of municipal employees, including representatives from the Department of Public Works, is expected to present to the town-appointed Police Department Building Committee on July 8. While Moynihan’s staff group has studied possible new sites, the Committee has been working on a possible renovation of the existing Police Department building on South Avenue. 

Committee member Jim Beall asked during the Committee’s regular meeting Thursday whether the Moynihan group might share its findings even before the next scheduled meeting on July 8. “Does it even have to wait until July?” Beall said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “Stuart, what is our expectation?

Board of Education

Superintendent: District Shortens Quarantining Period for Families Traveling Out-of-State for Sports Tournaments

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New Canaan Public Schools officials say they’ve updated a quarantining requirement that affects many sports-oriented families. 

Until this week, if a family traveled out-of-state for more than 24 hours for a sports tournament, they’d be required to quarantine for a minimum of seven days after testing negative for COVID-19 virus on their return, or 10 days without a test-out, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education said during the elected body’s meeting last week. Luizzi said during the meeting, held May 3 via videoconference, that he and others were seeking approval from health officials to update the change the requirement so that kids involved in sports could return to school faster. 

In email to the school community Tuesday, Luizzi said district officials now are allowing students to return to in-person learning with a negative PCR test after returning to Connecticut. “Having raised two daughters who are both student-athletes, I know the challenges this particular DPH/CDC guideline may have caused, and I’m thrilled to be making this welcome adjustment to our protocols,” he said in the email. The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s guidance is based on that of the CDC, and is more strict than rules that apply to other types of travel, Luizzi said during the Board of Ed meeting. “When I asked them about why—why this is different from any other kind of travel—what they said was the expectation that when students and families go to tournaments, they’re going to be spending most of their time off the field, together with multiple households in the same setting,” Luizzi said.

Business

Public Works: Plan To Widen Sidewalks on Elm Street Will Result in a ‘Net Zero’ Change to Parking

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Public works officials next week will will bring forward a proposal to widen several sections of sidewalks on Elm Street, chiefly on the north side of the road between South Avenue and The Playhouse. Mentioned during last month’s Police Commission meeting, the new configuration will make permanent some of the pandemic-related changes now in place with temporary barricades, as well as bolster pedestrian safety in a major shopping and dining area of downtown New Canaan, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We are looking at bumping out the sidewalks from the intersection with South Avenue up to and through The Playhouse on the northern side and then on the southern side, the crosswalk at The Playhouse itself and then the intersection of South Avenue and Elm Street,” Mann told members of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure during their regular meeting Monday. “What that will do is that should help us on reducing the pedestrian crossing length of the crosswalks and then protecting the areas adjacent to the crosswalk, whereby right now it’s 25 feet on either side, if you have a hard bump-out you can actually reduce that requirement in certain locations,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “And what it turns out to be is, we would lose five spaces on the northern side and gain five spaces on the southern side so it would be a ‘net zero’ change.”

Mann said he’s bringing the proposal to the Police Commission for approval at the appointed body’s April 21 meeting.

Bill Egan

New Sign Coming To Farm Road Side of New Canaan High School

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The Board of Education last week voted unanimously to accept a donation of more than $32,000 from the New Canaan High School PFA for a new sign on the building as well as several outdoor tables for student use. NCHS Principal Bill Egan said the new plastic lettering at the “band entrance” on the north end of the school will serve to inform visitors and passersby on Farm Road of what the building is. “When you drive up Farm Road, you would not necessarily know what school this is,” Egan told members of the Board of Education during their March 15 meeting, held via videoconference. “So we have visitors who come in and they drive up and sometimes we will hear, is that the school?”

He shared an early-stage rendering of the planned sign from the chosen vendor, Hung Well Signs LLC. The same company did the “Home of the Rams” sign at the back of the school, overlooking Dunning Field. 

Board of Ed member Penny Rashin thanked the PFA “for making these amazing donations that so improve the look and quality of our schools.”

“It’s just fantastic and I am just so appreciative as a Board of Ed member for all you do for our students,” Rashin said.