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Board of Education Race Takes Center Stage in Elections

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By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor

After decades of presenting voters with a sleepy undercard, the Board of Education has seized the spotlight in next Tuesday’s municipal elections. The reasons, observers agree, are twofold: Big issues and a more competitive process.

For the second consecutive election, both Republicans and Democrats have three candidates for the two seats available to each party. The result: a hectic schedule of debates, campaign appearances, and sometimes feisty questions from
the public.

No one pays members of the Board of Education for their service; you might think otherwise from the energy they expend to get elected. “No, no pay, just use of the corporate jet,” jokes Peter Von Braun, a Republican member of the board running for re-election. “Really, it’s something I do because I want to serve.”

“It has been a little more energy-intensive than I had expected,” says Gaetane Francis, a physician who is one of the three Democrats running for the board. “I thought a lot about what the demands of the position would be before running; I didn’t think as much about the demands of campaigning.”

Francis is one of three newcomers to the election process, along with fellow Democratic candidate Anthony Lopez, who works for the Greenwich Board of Education as a special-education assistant; and Republican Lauren Rabin, a marketing executive who served on local PTA boards and the Representative Town Meeting.

The Board of Education consists of eight members, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans who serve four-year terms. Elections are held for half the board every two years. There is one open seat on the Democratic side along with Democratic vice-chair Jennifer Dayton; and two Republican incumbents, von Braun and board chair Barbara O’Neill. In essence, voters are being asked to decide two intra-party contests, although they can vote for any four candidates, irrespective of party. The highest two vote-getters in each party are seated.

Both Republicans and Democrats opted independently of one another to nominate an additional candidate. Republican Edward D. Dadakis calls it an “admirable” way of offering a choice.

“It’s important to have a competitive election,” adds Democratic Town Committee member Lin Lavery. “We have Jennifer, and two new terrific candidates, each of whom brings something unique and special to the board.”

The candidates have had a chance to show what they offer in a series of panel discussions, like Wednesday morning’s student forum at the Greenwich High School Auditorium. Responding in turn to a series of questions submitted by students, the candidates discussed their philosophies and stances on key issues like diversity, bullying, and capping the number of advanced-placement courses to mitigate student stress.

On a question about digital learning, Lopez won applause for saying he does not favor the Chromebooks currently in use among students. “I think we should get Macs,” he said.

Other key issues in a race defined by hot topics came up, too: How to handle student dislocation while rebuilding New Lebanon Elementary School, the “achievement gap” among students across the Greenwich school system, and setting budgeting priorities. A frequent topic was the call to move the high school’s start time forward to later in the day, which all candidates favor.

The candidates take similar positions on nearly all the issues before them, distinctions being more a matter of enthusiasm. Von Braun, for example, has staked his candidacy to his strong advocacy of later start times for high-school students, saying “cost is not a legitimate issue if you do it right.” Rabin emphasizes an interest in improving student well-being; Francis presses the need for addressing the achievement gap and “helping all students succeed academically.”

“This is the best way for voters to understand the judgement and the qualities of the candidates,” Dayton says. “Whether there’s six candidates or eight, what matters is
that voters have some kind
of choice.”

“I think choice is always good,” O’Neill offers. “The community wants choice, I think they
deserve choice.”

Not everyone favors the current selection process; von Braun, who notes he would have had a clear path to re-election had Rabin not been nominated by the RTC Executive Committee late in the process, describes it as “a very ineffective system” without clear party distinctions.

Republican Town Committee chairman Jim Campbell compares Greenwich to other towns, like New Canaan and Darien, where the opportunity exists for one political party to elect a majority of members.

“The system should be changed to allow for a normal, competitive race,” he says. “It’s pretty simple. The Democrats don’t want to change the system. They get to pretend they represent half the electorate in town. My candidates get two-thirds of the vote, but they only get half the seats.”

On the Democratic side, DTC member Peter Berg sees a risk in nominating three people for
two seats.

“Political parties are the bodies that recruit and vet candidates so that you’ve got qualified people running,” he says. “The way this works is the Republicans get to pick the Democrats on the board.”

Most of the candidates speak favorably about the 3-for-2 format. “I think this is a very good process,” says Rabin. “Rather than having the town parties make a decision, it gives the voters a chance to be heard.”

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