This November, the election for the Board of Education will be filled with many names of people I have gotten to know personally over my lifetime living in town. I am a registered Republican and don’t typically stomp for Democrats. One person in particular, despite being on the ballot for a party with which I have never aligned with politically, has my full support and vote: Laura Kostin, incumbent Democrat running for her second 4-year term
I met Laura many years ago when she and I served on the North Street School Parent Teacher Association Executive Board together. Laura is a mother of four, two of whom have gone through the entirety of Greenwich Public Schools and two who are still enrolled.While the Board of Education is made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, Laura has always been hyper-focused on the needs of GPS as a whole: its students, administrators, and parents. She has always answered questions I had (often during swim lessons or play dates) with complete honesty.
She was not a Democrat and I was not a Republican during those conversations: we were just two moms hoping to see the best options come to life for our children at the schools where they spend so much of their formative years.
This week, after hearing so much about the need to listen to other viewpoints with more respect and less vitriol after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I can say I have seen firsthand Laura has done exactly this with me for the last 4 years.
I was Central Middle School PTA President when the CMS Building Committee was formed. Laura volunteered to serve on the Committee, and she still does today. For those who followed the meetings during the regulatory approval phase, they were tense, contentious and acrimonious. Many on the Committee seemed to think of students as widgets rather than our children. Laura was always the first to bring the focus back to where it should have always remained: needs of the students and administrators who would be filling the halls of the new building starting in September 2026!
Laura is no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is, honest and dedicated. She doesn’t sugar-coat nor does she step away from a fight worth fighting if it will benefit the students of GPS. It is easy to forget this is a volunteer role and she has devoted countless hours of her personal time over the years to this role because she cares about the students, teachers and administrators of Greenwich Public Schools.
Please join me in voting for Laura for the Board of Education on Election Day, November 4th.
Dina Urso
