Politics & Government

Meet Shannon Silsby, Board of Education Candidate

Darien's next superintendent of schools should help "rebuild our administration team," Board of Education canddiate Shannon Silsby says.

The new superintendent "can't just put principals in school," said the Democratic candidate, one of four candidates from both parties who are vying for the three open slots on the board. "They need to be constantaly coached, charged and supported," she said of new administrators and principals.

Silsby was one of about 25 parents who complained to the state Department of Education about the way Darien Public Schools handled special education in the past school year.

Commenting on the recent letter to former Superintendent of Schools Stephen Falcone about problems with special education administration in the school district as far back as September 2012, Silsby said: "Not only is it horrible and disrespectful -- it's embarrassing that adults have made decisions that we're now talking about."

"My major complaint about how the Board of Education reacted was that it was too slow, and without a good listening ear, they just didn't listen hard enough or fast enough," she said.

Silsby, who moved to town in 2003, has three boys in Royle School, where she's been very active in the parent teacher organization, serving as the enrichment chair, the vice chair and as a co-chair. She also has a daughter at Middlesex Middle School, and she's on the executive board of that school's PTO. Silsby also serves as vice chair of the Council of Darien School Parents.

As a packaged goods marketer, she's led teams in charge of marketing such well-known consumer goods as Snuggle, All, Whisk and Surf. She said the communication skills she brings from her marketing career will help her on the board:

"Knowing your market, knowing what you have to offer, what its strengths and weaknesses are, getting it to market on time, at budget with the right amount of support" are all skills that should help in the Board of Education, she said.

The mathematics curriculum and teaching are a problem now in the school district and will be a challenge in the next four years, Silsby said. "The curriculum has fallen apart. Math is a mess. We have a weakness much like the special education weakness started to come up," she said.

"This is bubbling," she said. Silsby said she wants "to make sure this is not another raging fire that e have to put out."

Biographical information submitted by candidate:

Co-Chair of the Royle PTO and Vice-Chair of the Council for Darien School Parents (CDSP), and an accomplished brand marketer. She currently works as a Senior Brand Manager for Sun Products in Wilton.

She has held positions at two of the largest and most respected consumer products companies: Unilever and Procter & Gamble. Silsby holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina where she was a North Carolina Fellow and an MBA from the University of Rochester where she currently serves on the Alumni Advisory Board.

She was an All American athlete in high school, captaining state championship teams, and she also was one of the first girls to play baseball in her home.



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