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After One-Time Suspension, Board of Ed To Reinstate Public Comments Monday

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After suspending the practice for one meeting, members of the Board of Education said last week that they’re hoping to find a secure way for the public to offer comment before the elected body during remote meetings in the future. Receiving people’s emails isn’t an adequate substitute for the live public comment period that’s part of regular meeting agendas, according to Board member Dionna Carlson. 

“I wouldn’t want to see this going to the emails that just come to the Board, because that’s not public,” Carlson said during the Board’s March 30 meeting, held via videoconference. 

“There is a lot going on right now and I do think we need to find a way for the public to be able to address us through the digital platform,” Carlson said. She added, “I think it is is important for us to see and hear the public and for the remainder of the public to see what is being addressed to the Board. So I would not want to see this go to emails and things like that. We just need to figure out how to work with [New Canaan Public Schools Technology Services] to keep these random things off the Zoom platform or go to a different platform that is more secure.”

She referred to inappropriate material that appeared during recent public meetings held by other municipal bodies in New Canaan on Zoom videoconferencing software—a practice known as “Zoom-bombing.”

Board member Bob Naughton suggested the district look into webinar platforms that require advance registration. 

Board Vice Chair Brendan Hayes said it was a good idea to “pre-clear those who are going to speak.”

“It is a bit difficult, I think, but my guess is we are not going to have a huge number of people during this period of time,” he said.

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Chairman: Board of Ed Moving Forward on Limited Use of Drug-Sniffing Dogs in Schools

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The Board of Education may adopt a policy that would see drug-sniffing dogs allowed in public schools so long as students are not present during searches or criminalized as a result of them, the elected body’s chairman said Wednesday. 

Board members have talked about the issue in the last two weeks though they’re “somewhat concerned over because they don’t want dogs necessarily coming into schools and causing a problem as it relates to student stress or health,” according to Brendan Hayes. “So we are thinking about that carefully but that may be something that the Board moves forward on, so that we have a policy that governs dog searches which would never occur when kids are actually walking around,” he said during a Candidates Debate, held at Town Hall. “The dogs cannot come into contact with the kids. So we would do that very carefully if we chose to do it.”

The Democrat later added, “I met with Chief [Leon] Krolikowski and the superintendent a number of months ago, talking about this specific issue of we will do nothing if it results in kids being criminalized when they are in school. We will absolutely not do that.

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Letter: Bob Naughton for Board of Education

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Please join me and vote for Bob Naughton for Board of Education at the Republican Caucus on Tuesday, July 16th. 

Bob’s extensive private sector experience in the education field combined with his knowledge of our community make him the ideal candidate. Bob is currently the Chief Technology Officer of an educational assessment company in NYC and he has been in the education industry for close to a decade. Additionally, Bob and has worked in the technology field for almost 30 years. Bob would bring a unique perspective to the Board of Education as he understands both the business of education and technology’s role in today’s schools. Given his education and technology background, Bob will be able to help identify ways to increase the efficiency of our school system without impacting the high level of education we currently enjoy. Bob believes that the Board’s decision-making process should be transparent to keep community members fully informed.

Board of Education

Election 2019: GOP Candidates for Board of Ed Debate School Start Times, District Funding

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The five New Canaan Republicans vying for party backing as three Board of Education seats come up for election this fall shared their views Monday night on topics that included district funding, school start times and the elected body’s role with respect to curriculum. Carl Gardiner, Suzanne Harrison, Daniel LaGattuta, Bob Naughton and Julie Reeves are seeking GOP endorsement at the Republican caucus, to be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the New Canaan High School gym. Reeves is seeking to retain a seat she’s held since March, when Hazel Hobbs retired from the Board of Ed, and seats held now by Tom Cronin and Maria Naughton also are up for election. (Maria Naughton is running for Town Council.)

During an approximately 45-minute debate at Town Hall that was attended by more than 70 New Canaan Republicans—including current Board of Ed members, councilmen, Republican Town Committee representatives and municipal officials—the school board candidates introduced themselves and weighed in on some major issues facing the district. 

Here’s how they introduced themselves and responded to two key questions posed by moderator Fred Wilms.

Carl Gardiner said he earned a bachelor’s degree government from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University, and that he’s worked for 25-pls years in the investment industry. A father of three kids who went through New Canaan Public Schools, Gardiner said his own mother was president of the Board of Education in the town where he grew up, and that in New Canaan he has coached baseball and hockey, served on the New Canaan Baseball board and volunteered as a Sunday school teacher at St.