Fairfield School Board Seekers Look for Cuts

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The seven candidates each had plenty to say in the debate for the Board of Education race Thursday night. Interested voters can watch the entire debate on FairTV (Cablevision Channel 79, or on demand online).

But here’s a sampling of what each prospective school board member said on one of this summer’s most pressing issues: If given less money next year, what would you cut from the district’s budget?

Jennifer Maxon Kennelly, Democrat: “I’ve discussed at other meetings the idea of taking a new look at the ‘fixed costs.’ I think more can be done with both energy and transportation. But if the cuts have to happen, then I would be looking for the cuts to take place as far away from the direct delivery of education as possible.”

Phil Dwyer, Democrat: “As I’ve worked with the YMCA, I would say, ‘They didn’t start the YMCA so there could be an administrative staff at the top. We did it so they could help teachers, and people who serve in the classroom.’ I’d preserve that, but I’d be looking at the overhead costs to find a more efficient system.”

Stacey Zahn, Democrat (incumbent): “Where it has to be is away from the classroom. You can’t affect the children’s education directly. Even though people might also argue that sports plays a role in their lives, that it betters them as people.”

John Convertito, Republican: “I can tell you, in general, my approach would be to evaluate the efficacy of every area program before making a cut. Those cuts that did not perform well or did not get a good return on the investment we were making would be the first to go.”

Jessica Gerber, Democrat: “Look at the audit again. There were a lot of things in there. Some of them didn’t work, some of them were put into effect, others need more time to look at. Look again at everything in the audit, and see if there’s anything there that makes sense.”

Neal Fink, Democrat: “We need to just start with the bottom, and look at all the programs that we’re running, and see what our needs really are. We may find that there are places where it makes sense to cut.”

Paul Fattibene, Republican (incumbent): “There may be a requirement to raise class sizes to some degree. There may be a situation where you have to reduce some of the class offerings, or consolidate some course offerings. Also, it may arise where you have some sort of hiring freeze.”

Independent candidates Amanda Parks and Hugh Donnelly and Republican candidate Nancy Billington did not participate in Thursday’s debate. Voters will fill five seats in the election Nov. 8, and no more than three will go to one party.  

Want to know more about the candidates? Tell us what question you’d like them to answer in the comments below, or send queries to gcanuel@thedailyfairifeld.com. 

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