News

NCPS Adds Kindergarten Section at West, First Grade at South As School Year Gets Underway

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Despite a last-minute resignation in the World Language Department, New Canaan Public Schools managed to fill all certified positions in the district prior to the start of the academic year, officials say. Filling that final position was “a huge accomplishment,” Darlene Pianka, director of human resources for NCPS, told members of the Board of Education during a special meeting held Aug. 24 in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “And it was accomplished by the people who work with us that know people and refer them and say, ‘You should come and work in New Canaan,’ and that is exactly what happened,” Pianka said. The comments came during a staffing update to the nine-member school board.

Board of Education

‘They’re So Good, Talented, Tough’: Board of Ed Honors NCHS Boys Ice Hockey Team, State Champs

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The Board of Education on Monday night honored the New Canaan High School boys ice hockey team, which last week won its first state title in 54 years. Addressing the school board during its regular meeting, coach Clark Jones said that although the decades-long drought had “zero” relevance to him and the players, it still presented a mental challenge. “They weren’t born, I wasn’t born,” Jones told members of the Board of Ed at their meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS and via videoconference. “And so we had to get through that whole thing. And they’re so good—talented, tough, and they got through the whole mental battle.

Election 2025

Election 2025: Board of Education Incumbent Phil Hogan

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Board of Education incumbent Phil Hogan, a Republican, is seeking re-election. The GOP holds a 6-3 majority on the nine-member school board. Five seats are up for election: three currently held by Republicans, two by Democrats. There are three Republicans and three Democrats running for Board of Ed. Here’s our exchange with Hogan.

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.

News

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.