Fred Stanek will not be serving the next two years as the chairman of the Board of Education. Neither will Jeanne Loda.
Despite a public battle involving the pair and new First Selectman Paul Roy for control of the board, the position went to Ed Strumello.
“Well, I didn’t have the votes,” Loda said. “He and I had a couple of words and I didn’t have the votes so …”
Loda nominated Strumello against Stanek. When the votes were tallied, Strumello had five to Stanek’s three, with one abstention.
After taking his seat as chair, Strumello asked to postpone appointments to the various board committees as he had not yet had time to establish who was interested in what. He didn’t gather lists of interests because he had no solid indication that he would be the chairman.
“It would have been presumptuous of me to have that ahead of time,” Strumello said to the board. “It would have been presumptuous for anyone to have had that ahead of time.”
Roy had pushed for Stanek to take the seat, going so far as to suggest to board members Bruce Baker and Yashu John Putorti that their positions on the Chatfield-LoPresti School Building Committees could be lost if they voted for Loda.
Baker had publicly criticized the Roy for what he called threats and said he would not change his vote.
Stanek said he did not foresee Strumello taking the chairmanship of the board, but congratulated him and said he looks forward to working with him. He also said he thought Roy was only trying to reach a compromise that worked best for all parties, but the decision was ultimately not his to make.
“This board and its members are empowered to make that decision,” said Stanek.
While Loda removed herself from the running by throwing her support to Strumello, she did land the vice-chairmanship. Loda was unopposed for that position.
Putorti will serve as the board’s secretary.
Stanek intends to remain an active participant on the board. After Strumello announced that he would like to hold off on committee appointments, Stanek implored him to make form a curriculum committee.
“The board needs to continue to work on the curriculum,” Stanek said after the meeting. “We have not had a curriculum committee in two years.”
In that time, curriculum changes have largely been handled by individual presentations before the board, according to Stanek.
An increase openness with the public is also on Stanek’s radar. He said much of the public feels bewildered in their interactions with the board and the methods of interaction could be more fruitful.
Moving forward the board must prepare for the next big challenge — the preparation of the budget. With looming threats of funding cut backs from the state, Strumello said it will be a challenge to acquire the appropriate funding needed to offer the level of education and programs the board would like.
“Society runs upon money,” said Strumello.
Between politics and budgets, Strumello knows he is going to have his work cut out for him over the next two years, but he is OK with that.
“It is going to be a challenge,” he said. “I like challenges.”
Loda wants to see a continued push in keeping technology in the classroom and incorporating 21st century ideas into their practices.
“I want to see us go forward with the strategic plan,” said Loda.
She also wants to see college credit courses fully utilized in an effort to help more college bound students earn their degrees within four years.
“It’s a head start to earn credits, and I think that is a wonderful thing to offer the kids,” Loda said.
Procedural Problem?
Earlier in the evening, James Garofolo called a point of order concerning the order of proceedings for the evening.
It was his opinion, with support from Stanek, that the regular meeting should not take place before the organizational meeting to vote in the board positions. Garofolo argued that having the meetings in that order violated the bylaws of the board.
Attorney Gary Brochu was on hand at the request of other members of the board to argue the point. Brochu noted that the language of the bylaws indicated the organizational meeting was to be held between the first and second board meetings of December.
Opposition to the point read them as meaning the first and second after the election.
Brochu advised the board that they could, at their discretion, vote to adjourn the regular meeting, but then all unsettled business on the agenda would have to wait for rescheduling and notice.
Baker said in 2007 the board handled the meetings in the same manner with no objections. Ultimately the board decided to maintain the posted the schedule of meetings.
Gift Questioned
Schools Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo also presented Bruce Baker with a plaque for his years of service as chairman of the board. The gift from a school system employee to a sitting member of the board was questioned by one member of the public.
Mascolo said she bought the plaque with her own money.
