NORWICH – The public was formally introduced to four candidates running for two vacancies on the Norwich School Board last night, May 9, at a 'Meet and Greet' event in the Norwich High School auditorium.
Candidates Don Chirlin, Roz DeRensis, Brian Reid, and incumbent TJ Grady each took part in the panel where they delivered opening statements before fielding prepared questions that served to give the public insight on what each candidate might bring to the board should they be elected.
Though of varying backgrounds and levels of experience, the consensus among the candidates was that a successful board member will listen to their constituents as well as contrive ways to get more people in the community involved and aware in the happenings in Norwich City School District.
Chirlin was the evening's first speaker introducing himself as a former teacher for 24 years, as well as a former Norwich School Board member. He was the first candidate to respond to the opening question: “How will you be fiscally responsible?"
“I put a great deal of trust and faith in the person who is putting the budget together,” said Chirlin, who cited his past attendance at each month's Board of Education meeting as his means to assure transparency in the budget process.
“So how would I deal with fiscal responsibility? I don't really deal with it, except for the fact that I hold those accountable who do deal with it – that's my job,” said Chirlin.
DeRensis was next to respond to the question, prefacing her answer by providing background details regarding her history as a grant writer.
“Budget, budget, budget – always refer back to the budget,” said DeRensis, adding that a proper vision is necessary in the process of crafting the budget, and subsequently should be followed accordingly.
She went on to reiterate one of Chirlin's points, which was that only two community members attended the district's budget hearing on Monday, May 8.
“I think educating the public on why, 'why do we need to attend a budget hearing?' is important,” said DeRensis.
Reid said in his response to the question, “It's very important to have a good plan. Having a vision that's both short and long-term is important because when difficult decisions arise – and they do, you need to have something to refer back to.”
Reid also discussed his background as a Vice President of Operations for a global manufacturing company as evidence of his fluency in finance.
Grady, who's currently serving on the school board and is up for reelection, said, “I would 100 percent have to agree with Don [Chirlin]. I think the school actually does a phenomenal job with the budget. On the three years I've been on the board, there have not been any major cuts, nor any tax levy increase.”
Grady went on to say that in his experiences, he's been briefed on finances and the budgets' standing on a monthly basis while serving on the Board of Education, and this allows him the ability to remain in-touch with spending.
Another question the candidates were asked was: “What do you believe is the most serious challenge that the district is currently facing, and what do you plan on doing about it?”
Chirlin asserted that a lack of continuous leadership in Norwich High School is his main concern, as he says it has been without an unabridged principal in recent memory. Chirlin says this lack of a long-term leader contributes to some students' lack of discipline and success.
"Not every student is a great, grade-A student and we need educators that will adjust. I used to claim that I would have some students pass the class just to spite me," said Chirlin.
Grady answered, “I think definitely a huge challenge for all schools: Test scores – that's what everybody looks at at the end of the school year: What are the test scores? So I'm trying to devise ways for us to improve our test scores. How do we do that? By giving our teachers more freedom.”
