As the former chairman of the Derby Board of Education, I find myself running once again for a position on the Board of Education.
I feel that based upon my 14 years of experience on the Board (with the last 12 as chairperson) as well as having served with 3 different mayors, I can speak with experience as to what is needed from a mayor when it comes to supporting the Board of Education.
The Board of Education in any city is designed to be an independent body and the Connecticut General Statutes are very clear on this point as they specifically prohibit town legislative and executive authorities from the decision making process.
During my tenure on the Board, I have often found that the most damaging actions a mayor (or legislative body) can make is in interfering with educational matters and interjecting themselves in a process that they know very little about.
I believe instead that the voters of Derby can be trusted to elect representatives to the Board who will be involved in the educational process, set policy, drive priorities through budgeting and make decisions that will move the school system forward and make steady improvement.
Mayors best serve the school system by serving as a resource and a support as needed. One needs to only look back to the recent past and the building of the Middle School as a perfect example of what I am referring to.
Having been closely involved with attempting to plan for a new school to only see these efforts fail, I watched with satisfaction as the new middle school was built. As I watched the many fine people who worked to make this a reality, I also saw close hand the difference that resulted from having a mayor who was fully vested in the process and who was behind it all the way. I believe that having a mayor fully behind this project as opposed to others before whom only gave lukewarm support, did in fact make a key difference and is a perfect example of how a mayor can truly support a school system and help drive improvement.
I thought long and hard about once again running for the Board of Education and feel that now is a critical time to serve. I am hopeful that my years of experience coupled with my ability to work with others and put the school system first without consideration to party politics will cause people to once again allow me to serve them on the Derby Board of Education.
The writer is a Republican running for Board of Education in Derby.
Note:The Valley Indy will cease publishing guest columns by Sunday, Nov. 6. The final deadline for submissions is Saturday, Nov. 5 at 12 p.m.
Note: The Valley Indy welcomes ‘guest columns’ from those running for local office. We take each submission on a case-by-case basis. We’ll print up to two a month per candidate. We ask that the columns offer positions and solutions, as opposed to simply criticizing an opponent. We insist on a 500-word limit. If a political
opponent takes issue with a guest column, responses are encouraged in our comment section. We encourage candidates to register with Facebook with your first and last name to post a response here. We will not post your responses for you.
