The major priorities for the school district are preparing for an expected enrollment boom, safety and “continually looking forward to ensure that our curriculum is gradually changing, so that we are keeping pace with changing society,” according to one candidate for a two-year term on the Board of Education.
Democrat Josh Kaye said during a League of Women Voters of New Canaan debate that aired Monday night that when he was in school he “didn’t learn how to use a slide rule, even though that had been important for my parents.”
“Because the world changed,” Kaye said. “The world didn’t stop changing in 2000. So we need to look forward. We need to be thinking actively about the skills and abilities our kids need to graduate so that they can be prepared to thrive.”
Responding to the same question about his concrete goals on the Board of Ed, Kaye’s opponent in the Nov. 7 election, Republican incumbent Hugo Alves, agreed that “school security is definitely paramount.”
“I don’t want to say that I’m concerned about it, it’s just that we live in scary times,” Alves said during the debate, which had been pre-recorded the prior week at Town Hall because the Republican was out of town during the live debate this week. “Things are evolving and criminals and bad people just get smarter and more efficient and we just need to keep up with the times and we are moving forward through that and the administration with CAB [the Crisis Advisory Board] has done a great job there and continue, need to continue to focus on that.”
Alves added that New Canaan Public Schools should continue to make its Special Education department even better and that the district should continue to invest in its successful Literacy Academy program.
“I think we need to really stay on top of the Hartford mandates,” Alves added. “Their mandates, at the end of the day—they’re not horrible, but a lot of them we need to stay on top of so we can have creative solutions for things that we don’t feel are appropriate, necessarily, for New Canaan, or at least not in the way that they come down. So, keeping it local.”
The debate, which can be viewed here in full, was played before a crowded Town Hall Meeting Room on Monday night, following debates between the two first selectman candidates and among six candidates seeking four-year terms on the school board.
A town resident since 2010 who has three kids in the system and works as a financial planner, Alves was elected to the Board of Ed for a two-year term in 2021, and is seeking another two-year term following a resignation earlier in the year. Kaye is a lawyer originally from Wilton whose son is a second-grader at East School and whose daughter is in pre-K.
Moderated by Laura Smits of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, the approximately 25-minute debate saw Alves and Kaye agree on several major issues—such as how to prepare for an expected enrollment bump and addressing any divisions between parents and educators—while also drawing out differences in the candidates’ priorities and approaches.
For example, in response to this question from the League— “What, if any, topics do you feel are meant for the dinner table versus the classroom?” —Alves noted that he attended a “parent health workshop” recently that was more sparsely attended than he’d expected.
“I kind of felt for the teacher that was giving the presentation, because you could tell he was kind of guarded in his delivery of what was taught in health between K through 5th grade,” he said. “And I think that we do a really, really good job of finding that balance. I think better than other districts, according to some folks that I’ve heard, as far as keeping male teachers with the boys of young age, and girls teachers with the girls.”
In terms of specific topics that are not school-appropriate, Alves said that “politics really just need to stay out of the classroom altogether.”
“Nobody needs to know whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an unaffiliated,” he said, adding, “I think just on the most common basis stuff, keep religion at home, keep politics at home and just listen to the parents to make sure that, again, [there is] that transparency piece.”
Kaye said in response to the same question that it’s tricky “because I think a lot of the topics that we might have discussed aren’t appropriate either for the classroom or the dinner table.”
“They’re the kind of things that maybe we talk about in health class, or not,” he said. “I think religion is an incredibly important thing, those kind of core moral issues that really belong at home and that can be talked about around the dinner table. I largely agree that politics should be kept out of the classroom. I think there are some contexts where it’s important that we teach kids how to have a discussion about different viewpoints. And I think that analytical thinking is a really important skill if we’re going to teach kids to go out and be productive members of society, to think for themselves, to grapple with arguments they don’t agree with. I think that’s a really important piece of what we do in terms of teaching people how to go out from New Canaan High School and thrive. Because you’re not always going to be talking to people you agree with. And having a conversation that’s respectful, and open minded, but also principled I think is incredibly important. It’s got to be done in a sensitive way. It’s got to be done respectfully, and we certainly have that around my dinner table as well.”
Here’s what the candidates said on other Board of Ed-related topics:
Rising enrollment
- Alves: “I brought that up two years ago at a Board meeting when [district Human Resources Director] Darlene Pianka was reviewing all of our enrollment, I’d asked if any of that enrollment even considered the proposed, affordable housing tenements that are kind of in the works at this time, and it hadn’t, and the great news is that people moving to our town is great for our real estate values. It’s frankly great for our schools. It looks like we’re getting a more diverse group of folks coming from New York, our property values are great, everything I think is moving in the right direction. It looks like the enrollment will be able to handle it for at least the next few years. I think the concern is really around what happens if and when these developments actually do occur. I often joke maybe we need to bring back Center School and I don’t know that that’s an option, but the Board, [Superintendent of Schools] Dr. [Bryan] Luizzi, we’re well aware of it. We’re on it and we’re going to continue to plan for it.”
- Kaye: “We are expecting an enrollment boom and we’re continuing to gather data on what we expect enrollment to be. So this is an issue we need to look at very carefully. And there are really two things we need to focus on. First is space and ensuring that we have enough classroom space and building space to accommodate what our student population will be. And the second is that we are, we ensure that our administration is empowered to hire and retain enough teachers so that our student to teacher ratio isn’t adversely impacted. So obviously to do that we need to have competitive pay and competitive benefits. But we also need to create an environment where teachers feel respected and supported, and frankly, want to work in our schools. So we need to continue investing in our teachers with additional trainings and certifications, and mentoring and coaching so that teachers continue to be able to hone their craft and want to work here. So, this is an incredibly important issue, and something that we’re certainly going to need to focus on as we learn more about what enrollment in the coming years will be.”
Resolving conflict between parents and professional educators
- Kaye: “I think the answer depends on what we’re talking about. I think all of it, all of the decisions the Board of Education makes should be informed by all of the relevant stakeholders. So obviously parents have important input, teachers and administrators have important voices as well. So if we’re talking about the curriculum process, we have a really strong process for developing curriculum that I think takes into account the concerns of parents, the vision of the Board of Education and also the experience of our professionals, our teachers and administrators. And they come together to create what I think is a really first class curriculum. So I think taking into account as many stakeholders as possible, listening to those voices with an open mind and trying to reach consensus is incredibly important.”
- Alves: “It is a good question, one that’s been on people’s minds for the last couple of years that I’ve been on the Board and as I was running the last time. And it’s been brought to my attention this time: What’s the involvement that parents specifically should have in a curriculum? What’s the involvement that consultants or outside experts should have in curriculum development and other areas of our schools? And the reality is, we all move here for the schools. We have an incredible administration that’s done an incredible job of building just this community of wonderful and excellent teachers. And I think that we need to lean on them—use the terms ‘respect,’ ‘appreciate,’ make sure they’re properly compensated. I’m suspect of a lot of the experts and consultants that we’ve had. I have been relatively disappointed at times. But the good news is that’s why we have a Board of Education and our administrators are also really bright and look to us for guidance on that. And then our job as Board members is to liaise between the administration and the parents to make sure that the parents know what is going on with their kids in the classroom, and that they have a say in what the kids are seeing, what the kids are doing, what the kids are learning.”
Budget
- Alves: “It’s interesting, when I ran the last time—we get comments from all areas of the public, some folks think we’re spending way too much relative to our peers, I’ve never heard anybody complain that we weren’t spending enough—but the reality is after two years on the Board, one of the things that I pride myself on and us on is bringing a little bit more transparency to the Board. There was already a lot of transparency with the budget. I think we have probably one of the most transparent budgets in the DRG [Demographic Reference Group]. We brought a little bit more transparency by adding another budget meeting and we have especially—never mind our success—but we have one of the lowest per-pupil costs in our DRG. So I think we’re doing a really good job with the budget. My biggest concern is after Monday’s Board meeting when we got the facilities assessment, there’s $30 million in capital projects that we’re anticipating over the next five to seven, max 10 years. And these are things that we just can’t wait on. So that’s where my focus is going to be, in figuring out ways with the town to efficiently and effectively handle that, because it’s important for increased enrollment, it’s important for our kids to be healthy, our teachers to be healthy.”
- Kaye: “From a 30,000 foot perspective I think our budget is really strong. It’s $103 million and from what I can see, at least, the money is being very well spent. An example of an area where we can spend a little bit more, but potentially save a great deal, is actually in Special Education, which is hugely important to our district and fundamental to our mission as public schools. And when we talk about inclusion, this is a big part of it. The Literacy Academy is a great example of this. We’ve trained teachers in Orton-Gillingham, which is a method to help dyslexic learners read. And it’s a great example of the tremendous work our professionals, including [Assistant Superintendent of Pupil & Family Services] Bill Tesbir, can accomplish with the support of the Board of Education, including your support, Hugo. It’s providing an opportunity for kids to get a Windward or a Southport or an Eagle Hill education without the expense of those schools. So this is a huge win for our district. Instead of outplacements for the students, who need full OG training, which can be incredibly costly, we’re spending a little bit more to have OG training in our schools but ultimately saving a great deal of money. It’s also a way, in terms of inclusion, kids are staying in our schools instead of being outplaced.”
Here are excerpts from each candidate’s closing statement:
- Alves: “I do feel that experience means a lot. There’s a very, very steep learning curve. Not to suggest that it’s insurmountable, but it’s steep. In the first year, you’re drinking out of a fire hose, and it’s a lot. All the acronyms that they use in schools, like, holy cow, now I finally understand 80% to 90% of them, and I’m still working on it. But there’s a steep learning curve. I’ve managed to level that learning curve, I think, with these significant expenditures, which, frankly, that $30 million is the first I’d heard of it just the other night. Like, that’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last two nights, and I think that my 15 years in financial planning is going to bring a tremendous amount of resource to the Resources Committee, and experience in helping in that. And then just my ability to connect with the community. Been here 13 years, got three daughters. I do generally like people. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican. And you can ask both sides of people in the community and they’ll agree. So, just want to earn your vote for another two years at least.”
- Kaye: “We in New Canaan have a tremendous school system. One of the best in the state and the country. And school systems like this don’t just happen. They take hard work, careful thought and dedication. And we have a long tradition of leadership on the Board of Education that is truly nonpartisan, where you go to a meeting and you watch the Board members and based on the discussion you wouldn’t know what party a member was from. And I think we’ve strayed from that a bit in the last four years and I’m running for the Board of Ed to help bring balance and to bring back that tradition. I think we need to take the temperature down and I think we need to put kids first. There are short, medium, and long term issues that our schools are facing that I think we all agree on and we’ve spoken about some of them tonight. So with focus and dedication and calm, I think we can keep our schools excellent and I hope I can earn your support.”
Additional resources:
- Republican Hugo Alves—candidate website, podcast interview (September 2023)
- Democrat Josh Kaye—candidate website, campaign kickoff coverage (September 2023), podcast interview (September 2023)
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