Amy Zinser

‘It’s a Disgrace’: Parents Speak Out on Proposed Earlier Start Time for Elementary Schools

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Pushing the start of elementary school back to 7:45 a.m. would cost local families with two working parents important time together, create problems with respect to childcare and otherwise harm New Canaan’s youngest students, parents said Monday night. When the Board of Education recommended in June that the district pursue a new schedule that also would push the start of New Canaan High School back to 8:20 a.m., it wasn’t clear that the elected body was ruling out a more expensive option that would see all of Saxe Middle School and NCHS start at 8:15 a.m. and all three elementary schools at 9:10 a.m., according to Jennifer Dalipi, mother to one child at South School and one at Saxe. “That was obviously the one that most beneficial to all of our students, no matter their age,” Dalipi told the Board at its regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at the high school. Saying it’s understood that a scenario where New Canaan buses its public schoolchildren in two tiers rather than three would be more expensive (because it would require more buses), Dalipi said she still “cannot fathom that our children’s health, the wellbeing from our tiniest 5-year-old, to be made to get up earlier, in the dark, and get to school, we cannot find the solution.”

“So shame on us as a community if we cannot make it happen. Our high schoolers should not suffer for the little ones, and the little ones should not suffer for the older ones.

Government

Town Approves Less Costly Contract for Emergency Outcall Services

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The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a yearlong contract with a Washington, D.C.-based company that provides outcall services used by local emergency response officials. The contract with Blackboard Connect had risen to a cost of about $17,500 per year and municipal officials after getting quotes from different vendors were able to negotiate it down to half that rate, according to Chris Kaiser, director of Information Technology for the town. “We kind of realized and recognized that it was a little overpayment for services,” Kaiser told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held in Town Hall. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the $8,750 contract. 

At the moment, police, firefighters, EMTs and the New Canaan Office of Emergency Management have used the system to issue calls to those who have volunteered their contact information. The technology can be used in more ways and various types of outreach, Kaiser said, including for surveys or in reaching employees at times when Town Hall may be closed.

Board of Education

Large ‘School Start Times’ Committee To Convene in October

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A committee of about 30 people from the district, town government and wider community will convene in October as the Board of Education pursues a plan that would see New Canaan High School start nearly one hour later than it now does. Scheduled to launch Oct. 21, about one year later than originally planned, the committee will include Board of Education workers such as administrators, teachers and secretaries, as well as parents and representatives from the Town Council and community groups such as the New Canaan YMCA, New Canaan CARES and New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi. “And then we are also going to invite a few folks who from the last year expressed an interest in this, they have stepped forward to communicate with the Board of Ed, to speak at the meetings, to be a part of things,” Luizzi said during an update at the Board of Education’s Aug. 19 meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

“Because what we really want to do is have a wide-ranging committee that is led by a facilitator who has worked with our district before in order to build a baseline understanding of why we do what we do, and then look at what the scenario is that is being presented and have a brainstorming session, as well.”

Presented with several options for further study, the Board of Ed at its June meeting favored a scenario that would see all three elementary schools beginning at 7:45 a.m. all of Saxe Middle School beginning at 9:05 a.m. and NCHS starting at 8:20 a.m.—50 minutes later than the current 7:30 a.m. start time.

News

District: 116 More Students Than Projected Enrolled in New Canaan Public Schools

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When the academic year starts next week, New Canaan Public Schools are expecting to see 116 more students K-12 than had been projected, district officials reported Monday. 

The above-projected figure of 4,180 total students reflects higher-than-projected registration across all levels, with the elementary schools 79 students over projections, Saxe Middle School 18 and New Canaan High School 19, according to Darlene Pianka, the district’s director of human resources. The overall figure does not include pre-kindergarten. “Big numbers,” Pianka said during the Board of Education’s regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. The figures show that “there is clearly demand for New Canaan Public Schools,” Board Chairman Brendan Hayes said. “This is great news, I mean seeing 116 students overall greater than what we predicted is pretty amazing and remarkable,” he added.

Brendan Hayes

Solar Panels To Be Installed on South School Roof This Summer

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Officials are moving forward with the first phase of a plan to install solar panels on the roofs of New Canaan’s public schools. 

New Canaan Public Schools Director of Finance and Operations Dr. Jo-Ann Keating told the Board of Education at its regular meeting July 15 that a revised contract with the party providing the panels had been finalized. The revised contract is “about 73% less than our current rate that we pay per kilowatt hour,” Keating said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “The panel system is going to cover about 80% of our demand requirement, so we’ll still be going out to the grid for about 20% of what we need,” she added. The revised contract follows months of progress in bringing the sustainable power source to New Canaan Public Schools. At the Board’s April 22 meeting, Keating said that solar panels are to be installed on the roof of South School this summer, with a plan for installation on East and West schools and Saxe Middle Schools over the next three years.