Four Candidates Debate for Three Board of Ed Seats

• Shannon Silsby (Democrat), currently the Royle School PTO co-chair (where she has three children in the first, second and fifth grade) and vice chair of the Council of Darien School Parents

• Christa McNamara (Republican) has three children in Darien schools, one at Middlesex Middle School next year and two "in the Darien High Class of 2024." She is vice chair of the Education Committee of the Representative Town Meeting. McNamara said her family received special education services in town. She has a master's degree in elementary education.

• David Martens (Republican), the father of three boys, ages 12, 15 and 17, is a member of the Education Committee of the Representative Town Meeting. His career has been in global banking, "mostly about structuring loans and wholesale credit work."

• Callie Sullivan (Democrat), a former member of the Darien Board of Selectmen who runs her own company, the publisher of a journal related to education.

Here are some quotes from the candidates during the debate:

Sullivan: "One of my strengths has been dissecting budgets. I've been doing that for the last 12 years. And I've run my own business for the last 17 years. [...] I understand how businesses work and I also understand how governments work. One of the suggestions that I have had in the last eight years. Darien should look to other towns to see where they achieve efficiencies, so we can really keep more of our dollars in the classroom. [...]

Martens: "Providing services to all children is what they deserve and what we need to deliver. The real question is, can we do that in an efficient way. [...] Because of my experience with distressed companies, I always believe there are more efficiencies out there. [...] That's how I make money: I spend time making things more efficient."

Sullivan said the school district should explore sharing services between the town government and the school district in order to save money through efficiencies: "One of these shared services that I'd like to see happen in Darien which happens in New Canaan and Wilton and Weston and Stamford is to just have one group of people maintaining all of our facilities. We shouldn't have two separate groups plowing our roads and maintaining our fields . [...] It would be far cheaper for us to do it the way everyone else does it, which is just having one group do that."

Silsby said that listening should be a high priority for the Board of Education and the leadership of Darien Public Schools, "making sure that we are understanding, hearing everyone's voice, hearing the voices that we didn't listen to a year ago. The parents when there is a problem, today the eight-page letter that came to light -- hearing the voices of our faculty and staff. [...] Nothing should be a surprise. The board should always know and have a finger on the pulse of what is going on."

McNamara: "I would support public comment at our Board of Ed meetings, which currently don't exist [...]  by policy."

Martens: "One of the reasons I wanted to be on the board was my continued frustration over the many years of the new proposals that came out and did not have what I call clear key performance indicators -- use any term you want. The idea is that if you want to propose something, if you want to change something, decide what you want to achieve and how you're going to measure it. And that second part I believe is missing from much of the proposals I see nowadays."

Silsby: "Every learner should be valued. And special education was villified. Not by our board of ed, but potentially by our Board of Finance. It was spending on learning, just like we spend to teach all learners. [...] Don't let our budget guide our decision-making, work our budget to achieve our goals."

McNamara on what to look for in the next superintendent: " I think we need someone who's going to come in with a lot of positive energy. ... we need somebody who'se going to keep their eye on the ball. I think we've seen that wasn't perhaps the case as much as we would've liked in light of recent developments. [...] I think this individual needs to show a proven track record in a high performing district. [...] Lastly, I think this individual needs to be a communicator and a collaborator. This person needs to be able to work with their staff, with their fellow superintendents, with the community particularly now its an important skill, and also with the Board of Education."


In answer to the question "What is your vision for education in this community?"

• McNamara: "To address the needs of each child. Wherever they are on the spectrum of learning, we need to make sure that we take each child, support them, nurture them, scaffold them up to their next level. We are a high-performing school district. I'd like to maintain that level of excellence going forward, but again, to meet the needs of every child, to bring them forward, to achieve the most that he or she has [...]"

• Martens: "The long term vision is to keep being rated No. 1 [...] Keep that level of excellence everywhere. [...] For this year [...] I think the mediation of the issues with special ed, with those children that were affected by that. That I believe is in a good position right now to be fixed. We hired a lot of people. I think that part of that has been solved. I think there's a larger issue that has now been opened up with accounting, with Steve Falcone resigning. [...] My vision for the next year is to be brutally open, to communicate with the community. [...] I think for the next year it's really about restoring trust. [...]

• Silsby: "My overall vision is that we value all our learners the same. Whether you're a nontraditional learner or traditional learner, you're all learners, and that it's not about the best and the brightest, but about them reaching their best and their brightest."