First and foremost, I am an involved father of 7 children and active in their school and extracurricular activities. I served as Chair of the New Haven Civil Service Board from 2010-2014, am currently Vice President of the New Haven Fire Fighters Union, an active member of the AMSB PTO and consistently participate in BOE meetings. I feel my work ethic, ability to work with others and my passion for learning are my best qualifications to be a member of the Amity Board of Education.

My primary goal would be to bring a focus back to the academic success and ranking of the Amity School District. I feel now that there has been more focus on social activities, and not academic issues, which have not only hurt our rankings but also hurt the quality of life experience for our students and staff. I would like to bring a more academic-focused mindset to the Board of Education.

The job performance of the superintendent should be evaluated in three ways to arrive at an overall evaluation number. (1) There should be benchmarks set by standardized test score, (2) a staff evaluation based on the work climate, and (3) a student survey for school climate with responses on the curriculum. Additionally, we need a board review of the current state of the district compared to its 3-5-10 year plan, and an independent evaluation and comparison to similar districts in the state.

This question in the current climate is difficult to answer. Due to massive inflation and economic turmoil coming out of the pandemic, it is unrealistic to not expect the budget to increase. However, when there is a built-in surplus in a non-transparent process, there needs to be a better way to operate the budget. I feel there is a way to control the spending and budgeting in a better way to keep in line with additional spending.

I think a reasonable amount of increase should be in line with whatever contractual increases are scheduled, as well as built-in repair and maintenance expenses. In the private sector we would always budget for repairs and maintenance to keep the assets current and well performing. In the public sector, I see waste in upkeep causing issues to compound beyond standard maintenance and feel we should be better at allocating monies where they are needed and being more conservative where we can.

I have a tremendous respect for state governments and their role in the educational process. I do not, however, agree with their mandating of the curriculum. Each district should have the opportunity to teach and obtain the state standards and not be forced to do it a certain way. I am also opposed to unfunded mandates.

Yes, I do have a concern about the curriculum at Amity. There has been an intrusion into the academia of school with social positions. I was an athlete in high school and sports were important to a lot of students. However, sports were second to education. The same applied to social clubs and extracurricular activities at the school. I believe we have diverted the path away from educating the students to the content and are more focused on positions of the content. We need to get the focus back on the content and teaching, not the social aspects of education.

I do not have any concerns about extra-curricular opportunities in the district. There is ample time and opportunity for students to participate in anything that draws their attention. I am on the PTO at Bethany Middle School and co-organize the Color Fun Run. As a PTO, we contribute money and energy into making sure the students have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of activities and causes. This is why time spent during the day should be focused on the education of the students.

The school library should be a direct reflection and resource of content needed to reinforce and assist the students in learning about what they are hearing in the classrooms. With the added technology of cell phones, laptops, tablets etc., there is no shortage of ancillary information available to students. The school library should be equipped to assist the students in their needs for school. I am not for censorship, however anything not related to their educational needs could be met elsewhere or offered with parental involvement.

My view of the portrait of the graduate in the concept is that it’s a great idea and could be a wonderful tool. However, if the mission of the idea is not solely based on helping students to focus on academics and develop an understanding of others to build relationships while navigating through added responsibilities, then it is flawed. The portrait of the graduate should be based on helping students handle their increased responsibilities over time and organizing themselves as they finish public school and head into a world where they will need to understand how to be more independent. It should have them focus on time management, personal accountability and stronger personal finance.

This is a value taught at home and my wife and I lead by example with this. Although this can’t be promised, it should always be worked towards. I have 7 children spanning all 3 schools this area offers. I also work in and serve the diverse city of New Haven. I promise that I will conduct myself on the board as I do in life. My family is always open to talking and meeting new people as well as playing and learning together. The best way to work towards this goal is living by it and that is exactly what I do.