The following letter has been received for publication in The Newtown Bee:

To my fellow Newtown residents,

It has been my honor to serve you on the Board of Education (BOE). While I chose not to run again, I think we have some excellent candidates on the ballot.

When I joined the BOE in 2019 as its sole new member, I was told by continuing BOE members to “trust the experts” when reviewing policies, curriculum, and budgets. What does the phrase “trust the experts” even mean? Does it mean that the experts educate and guide the BOE so that it can arrive at an informed decision? Or, does it mean that the board is expected to always precisely follow the recommendations of the experts when making decisions? If the latter, what value do the BOE members provide?

Some prior BOE Chairs listed the BOE’s responsibilities in a recent Bee letter as “hiring a capable Superintendent,” “maintaining comprehensive policies,” and “providing staff with the resources” (ie, budgeting). We hired experts to guide our search for a new Superintendent and listened to district experts when doing so. We enlisted experts including staff, CABE, and legal, to write our policies and curriculum. We had experts including the Superintendent, principals, and department directors, create our budget. If the prior Chairs are right about the extent of the BOE’s responsibilities and experts are available for each responsibility, why have a BOE?

When I became Chair, I tried to empower every BOE member to ask questions, listen to all stakeholders, and cast informed votes. As part of this, I tried to ensure that our working committees included members with differing views so that their discussions would be more comprehensive and representative of our community. Equally important, I focused on trying to get the information needed to enable our board to more fully assess its own overall success. Was its oversight of the Superintendent beneficial to both the Superintendent and the district? Were its policies sufficient and effective? Did it provide district staff with the resources and curriculum needed to provide the education expected by our community?

As a result, we’ve had longer discussions and more split votes. Some may feel that the discussions were too long and that the split votes disrespected our staff. I disagree. The BOE is the governmental interface between our town residents and our schools. As a board, we have members who represent the concerns and interests across our diverse community. We need to be able to civilly acknowledge and discuss our differences and arrive at informed decisions that a majority believes best move our schools forward within the context of our community values and state and national laws.

Please meet the BOE candidates. Ask them what “trust the experts” means. Ask them their views regarding BOE responsibilities. Talk with them about your priorities for our schools and students. Then, join me and cast your votes for who you feel will best represent your family and the Newtown community.

I am speaking for myself and not on behalf of the BOE.

Deborra Zukowski

Newtown