[0:00] Quentin, we don't hear you.

[0:02] Yep. Good evening. Welcome to the Board of Education,

[0:06] special meeting for... It's Monday, June 29th,

[0:10] 2026. My name is Quentin Flower, video production coordinator.

[0:14] Before we begin, I'll explain our procedures.

[0:16] Board members and members of the public can join the meeting with the Zoom app, a

[0:19] computer, or by dialing in. When not speaking, everyone is encouraged to remain

[0:23] muted. Dial-in participants can mute and unmute by pressing star six on the

[0:27] phone. During public comment, any member of the public may unmute to make a

[0:30] comment. All speakers are asked to clearly state their name and title before

[0:34] speaking, every time they speak. A vote is supposed to be taken by roll call.

[0:37] If at any point this meeting is disconnected or the quantity degrades to an

[0:40] unusable level, as determined by the chair, we will attempt to restart using the

[0:43] same link for 30 minutes. If we cannot restart, then we will be closed and

[0:47] rescheduled. The recording will be available on the new Fairfield website for later

[0:50] viewing. You may now commence the meeting.

[0:53] Thanks, Quentin.

[0:55] All righty. It is,

[0:58] 7:01. It is June 29th, 2026.

[1:02] This is a special meeting of the Board of Education.

[1:05] I'd like to call the meeting to order.

[1:07] At this point, will you all join in the pledge of allegiance?

[1:12] I pledge allegiance

[1:13] Pledge allegiance

[1:14] to the flag

[1:15] of the United States of America

[1:18] and to the Republic

[1:19] for

[1:20] which it stands, one nation,

[1:23] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

[1:27] for all.

[1:29] Perfect. Thank you. Okay, public participation.

[1:33] Any member of the public who would like to

[1:37] share their thoughts, you have the opportunity to do so

[1:41] now. We have

[1:42] some background there.

[1:44] Yeah. Quentin, can we just make sure everybody's muted, please?

[1:48] Thanks.

[1:50] Um-

[1:51] And Dominic, are all the Board of Ed members here? Do you know?

[1:56] Yes. No.

[1:58] Okay.

[1:58] Peggy's-

[1:59] Peggy

[1:59] ... Peggy's not here yet.

[2:00] Okay.

[2:02] All right. She should join. She told me she was joining.

[2:05] Okay.

[2:05] So, any member of the public who would like to speak, you have three minutes.

[2:09] Please observe common courtesy and state your

[2:13] name and your street name, not number.

[2:25] Okay. I don't see anyone

[2:29] looking to speak. We'll move on. We have some action items.

[2:32] First is the personnel report.

[2:37] Oh, I don't have that up. Sorry. I'll make a motion

[2:40] to approve the personnel report

[2:45] of June 29th,

[2:47] 2026.

[2:51] I'll second.

[2:53] Any discussion?

[2:58] Okay.

[2:59] All in favor?

[3:01] Suzanne, do a roll call, please.

[3:05] Sorry.

[3:06] Samantha?

[3:08] Aye.

[3:09] Kim?

[3:13] Kathy.

[3:15] Aye.

[3:15] Ed.

[3:16] Yes.

[3:17] Greg.

[3:19] Aye.

[3:20] Amy.

[3:21] Aye.

[3:22] Peggy.

[3:25] I thought I saw Peggy there.

[3:27] Did you?

[3:28] Yeah.

[3:28] Yeah, she's here. Peggy, you're muted.

[3:31] Unmute yourself, Peggy.

[3:34] Sorry, Suzanne. Kim, I found my screen again.

[3:36] I tried to find the motion and I lost my Zoom.

[3:39] That's okay. I saw you on there. I got you.

[3:43] Quentin, can you unmute Peggy?

[3:46] No.

[3:48] I can't. I can ask her to unmute, but I cannot force

[3:52] someone to unmute.

[3:54] Oh, but you can mute them.

[3:55] She's trying to get-

[3:55] There she is.

[3:56] Okay. I'm unmuted.

[3:57] Am I in now?

[3:58] Yes.

[3:59] Okay.

[4:00] You're in favor?

[4:01] Sweet mother.

[4:04] Okay.

[4:04] Are you in favor, Peggy?

[4:05] You're in favor of the personnel report?

[4:06] Yes.

[4:07] Yep.

[4:07] Yes, I am.

[4:08] And Dominic?

[4:09] Yes.

[4:10] Great. Motion passes.

[4:12] Thank you. We are up to acceptance of donations, the new Fairfield

[4:16] Elementary School PTO.

[4:19] Make a motion to recommend to the full board

[4:22] to accept with gratitude the new Fairfield Elementary School

[4:26] PTO donation of not to exceed $20,000

[4:30] for elementary school playground upgrades.

[4:35] Kim, I'll second.

[4:35] Greg, I'll second.

[4:38] Kim, beat you to it.

[4:39] Thank you, got it in time, Greg.

[4:41] Next time.

[4:42] Any discussion?

[4:45] Would you like some context from me?

[4:47] That would help.

[4:48] Sure.

[4:49] Great. So,

[4:50] this is a very generous donation on

[4:54] behalf of the

[4:56] PTO at the elementary school. And as you know, we have a

[5:00] wonderful playground area.

[5:03] And,

[5:05] the equipment, the surface.

[5:09] The one thing, though, that could really enhance the playground

[5:13] experience are some markings throughout the

[5:17] cement area.

[5:19] Whether it's four square, whether it's basketball, hopscotch,

[5:24] those kinds of things give

[5:27] children other places for play

[5:31] that

[5:33] otherwise they

[5:36] would, in unstructured areas, figure things out.

[5:39] But sometimes when you have those games, allows them

[5:42] for further interactions, around whether it's

[5:46] basketball, four square, or other things.

[5:48] So,

[5:49] our PTO has been working with the elementary administration

[5:53] to identify what would make the most sense.

[5:57] The PTO has identified

[6:02] A contractor to do this work, and they would contract

[6:06] directly with them. However, with our

[6:09] facilities department, Joe, and with

[6:13] Carrie's oversight as well, would oversee certainly

[6:17] any work done on our property. So,

[6:21] that's a brief overview. I do see we have a couple members of the

[6:25] elementary PTO are Christine Frederick and Elise

[6:29] Doyle, our co-presidents, and we thank them for their

[6:33] support.

[6:35] And Jen Hildebrand is here as well representing the

[6:38] administration. So if there's any questions, we can

[6:41] answer any of those for you.

[6:44] Well, it's awfully generous, and it

[6:47] sounds like it'll be put to really good use.

[6:50] And we all can agree that kids need the ability to play

[6:54] every day. So,

[6:56] good stuff. Thank you, PTO. Really appreciate it.

[7:00] I agree as well. Thank you so much. That's a very generous donation.

[7:03] It'll go to good use.

[7:04] Absolutely.

[7:05] Yeah, this is Kim. I don't have any questions.

[7:07] I just think it's great, and I think the kids are going to love it.

[7:09] So, thank you very much.

[7:11] Right.

[7:13] Okay. Let's

[7:15] have a vote.

[7:18] All right. Kim?

[7:20] Yes.

[7:21] Diana?

[7:22] Yeah.

[7:24] Kathy?

[7:25] Yes.

[7:26] Ed?

[7:26] No.

[7:28] Greg?

[7:30] Aye.

[7:31] Amy?

[7:32] Aye.

[7:33] Peggy?

[7:34] Aye.

[7:35] And Don?

[7:37] Yes. Thank you.

[7:38] Great.

[7:40] All right.

[7:40] That's approved.

[7:41] Thank you very much. Okay, next item

[7:44] is election of a new board of education member, and

[7:48] we'll

[7:49] enter into executive session after we hear from both

[7:53] candidates. And before we ask each candidate to

[7:57] give a couple of minute overview of yourself and why

[8:01] you're interested in this position, I just want to thank you both

[8:05] for putting your hat in the ring, so to speak.

[8:07] It's really an important responsibility,

[8:11] and we don't take it lightly, and we really appreciate when members of our

[8:15] community want to make this commitment for the betterment

[8:19] of

[8:20] the educational outcomes of all of our kids. So, thank you.

[8:23] So,

[8:25] Joanne, I'll ask you to go first, if you can give us a couple of minutes on

[8:28] yourself, please.

[8:30] Okay.

[8:32] I've been a resident here in New Fairfield since

[8:35] 1981.

[8:37] I am a recently retired educator.

[8:42] I went to school

[8:44] at Cornell to be an educator back in the '70s.

[8:49] Did not go right into teaching, was in business

[8:53] for almost 20 years, retail and travel

[8:57] business.

[8:58] And then when I hit a certain age, I decided that if I didn't make

[9:02] the move into education,

[9:05] I was never going to do it.

[9:07] So I did, and wound up in the

[9:11] Danbury system for most of my tenure.

[9:14] And most of those years at the Danbury system were in the

[9:17] alternative center, the alternative high school.

[9:20] Although, I was also at the regular high school

[9:24] and the junior high.

[9:27] I

[9:28] am, like I said, recently retired.

[9:30] I have a passion for education. I am not

[9:34] ready to stop being an educator in the

[9:37] sense of giving back to the world.

[9:43] And this seems like an extremely wonderful opportunity

[9:47] for me to continue giving what I have

[9:51] to give of myself to the youth of the

[9:55] world. In this case, it's the youth of New Fairfield.

[9:58] I would love to do this job. I

[10:01] pledge to learn all about

[10:05] what it entails to be on the Board of Education.

[10:08] I've been a teacher, so I've been on the other side.

[10:12] And so, whatever training that I need to do,

[10:16] I would be more than happy to do.

[10:20] And my goals are to work for the benefit of the students

[10:24] in this district and to use the

[10:27] taxpayers'

[10:29] monies wisely.

[10:32] And that's me.

[10:34] Thank you, Joanne. We appreciate that.

[10:37] I will ask that Frank Ruddy to speak, and then if any board members

[10:41] have questions, we'll ask-- We will spend a few minutes

[10:45] asking you some questions, if that's okay.

[10:47] So Frank, can you give us an overview on yourself, please?

[10:50] Sure. I'd like to say good evening.

[10:52] Can everyone hear me?

[10:54] Yep.

[10:54] Yes.

[10:55] Okay. Fantastic.

[10:58] I have

[10:59] no background in education or

[11:03] credentials in that field. I do have a vested

[11:07] interest as I have two children currently in middle school.

[11:10] They just finished sixth grade, going into seventh grade,

[11:14] and they thoroughly enjoy going to school, which is something I don't

[11:18] think I did at their age at that point.

[11:21] I would like to see that continue, and I

[11:24] have

[11:28] a vested interest in seeing them succeed.

[11:31] I feel that

[11:33] what has happened so far

[11:36] with their education since they started here in kindergarten,

[11:39] they have thrived. And

[11:43] as in any business or any personal relationship,

[11:47] I feel that

[11:50] there's always room for improvement, and there's always room to expand,

[11:54] even if you are successful. And I would like to

[11:58] say that I'm throwing my hat in the ring.

[12:01] I-

[12:04] Part

[12:05] to this position. I am a contractor.

[12:09] I'm also a licensed home inspector,

[12:12] so I do know about running businesses. I'm also a landlord.

[12:16] That's another one of the businesses that I run.

[12:19] I have

[12:21] good people skills.

[12:27] What I really want to do is the lessons that I

[12:30] try to impart upon my children, I feel it's very important to act upon them.

[12:36] I teach my kids it's

[12:38] important not to always be a passenger in life.

[12:41] We are passengers in so many things that we do.

[12:44] We take things for granted.

[12:46] So many people send their kids off to school and

[12:51] just go through the day, whereas I would like to teach them to

[12:56] try to have a little more control, volunteer, put effort

[12:59] into

[13:01] what you have.

[13:05] Apologize I'm not the best speaker.

[13:08] But I certainly

[13:11] learn from this position,

[13:13] certainly give it all the effort that I have.

[13:15] I also feel that it's best to be more proactive than it is reactive.

[13:20] So therefore, that is why I'm volunteering for this position.

[13:24] So appreciate all of your time tonight.

[13:28] Look forward to hopefully working with all of you.

[13:31] Thank you.

[13:32] Okay. Thank you, Frank.

[13:35] I

[13:36] just have two questions for each of you.

[13:39] And Joanne, I'll ask you first if that's okay.

[13:46] Two things.

[13:48] And come off mute, Joanne. You're on mute right now.

[13:52] Sorry.

[13:53] There you go. Thank you. Thank you. That's okay.

[13:56] Tell me something you see in the new Fairfield School District

[14:00] that

[14:02] makes you proud as a resident, and tell me something

[14:05] that

[14:07] could use some work.

[14:11] That's a tough one, coming from the Danbury district and

[14:15] having grandchildren up in New Milford and down

[14:18] in Redding.

[14:21] But I'm always proud of what I read, in

[14:25] the Citizen news, what I see on Facebook.

[14:30] We project a very positive,

[14:33] healthy

[14:39] image to the public. The sports are

[14:42] wonderful. I love seeing the

[14:46] pictures of the sports.

[14:47] I need to learn more

[14:51] about the academic excellence of the district, but I know that it's there.

[14:55] I know it's one of the best districts in

[14:58] Connecticut, and I'm very proud of that.

[15:01] What needs to be

[15:04] tackled? I'm not really sure. Again, I'm

[15:10] an

[15:16] English teacher, okay? And I love reading and

[15:20] writing and poetry and creativity.

[15:24] I see that in our district. I see that from what I see

[15:29] in social media.

[15:31] I worry about the intrusion of-- I've

[15:35] always worried about the intrusion of technology, and I've always used technology

[15:39] as a tool, but I do worry about the intrusion of

[15:43] AI into the schools at this point.

[15:46] So I don't know where we stand as a

[15:50] district

[15:52] going forward with technology and AI.

[15:56] Okay. Thank you, Joanne. I appreciate that. Frank, same questions.

[16:01] I think the thing that impresses me the most about having my kids in the school

[16:05] is the accessibility to the teachers and

[16:10] certain programs that have been offered to my kids.

[16:13] My son does chess and robotics in school.

[16:15] My daughter plays viola in the symphonic orchestra up at the high

[16:19] school.

[16:21] One of the things that impressed me most is my son was

[16:25] dragging in math. He found that he was, turns out he was bored,

[16:30] and

[16:32] they spoke with the teachers, and they started to challenge him.

[16:36] Next year, he's going to be taking high school math.

[16:38] He's moving up to the algebra program. Very proud of him.

[16:42] And if it were not for the communication that I had back and forth with the

[16:46] teachers,

[16:47] and my wife as well, I don't think we would've recognized some of

[16:51] these things.

[16:53] So, and as far as what I'd like to see worked on and

[16:57] improved is,

[17:00] I do realize, as Joanne had said, with AI, the

[17:03] intrusion as it were of AI, is that we're going to have to learn to

[17:07] adapt to the technology because the technology's not going to

[17:11] adapt to us. And being in the trades, I have to

[17:15] say that AI has infiltrated so many

[17:18] professions. My children are going to be,

[17:23] certainly, in 10 years if they do a four-year college career,

[17:27] they are going to be going to the workforce and

[17:30] I think it's going to look very different than what it looks like now.

[17:34] So I think we're going to have to work through programs and

[17:38] introduce things where the kids are going to have to

[17:41] embrace AI, such as it were, without relying upon it.

[17:45] And certainly using it as a tool, much as other technology in the

[17:49] past has

[17:51] come into play and we had to adapt to that as well.

[17:57] See that we do some work on that.

[18:01] Okay. Thank you, Frank. Any other board members have any questions?

[18:12] I have a quick question, Dom.

[18:14] Please.

[18:16] Over the past year, how many Board of

[18:20] Education meetings have you either watched on

[18:23] live or

[18:25] watched the playback recorded?

[18:31] If each of you could answer, that would be great. Thank you.

[18:35] I'm sorry, Joanne, did you want to go first? I'm sorry.

[18:38] I've watched one.

[18:40] Thank you.

[18:44] I have watched several, or I should say many, and I have spoken

[18:48] at many as well.

[18:50] I felt bad that I spoke very passionately about

[18:53] when we were dealing with the COVID, and my children were

[18:57] in

[18:58] elementary school, the removal of the masks.

[19:01] Felt I got a little passionate about that, where the adults were able to walk

[19:05] around without masks, but our children

[19:07] were still wearing them.

[19:11] Your palpable feeling. But I

[19:15] have spoken upon the budget as well, several

[19:18] times.

[19:21] Last year's budget, I believe it was, when we had several votes for things, and

[19:26] I am involved as far as watching and

[19:30] speaking at the board meetings.

[19:34] Okay. Thank you both. Any other questions from board members?

[19:38] Mm-mm.

[19:41] Okay.

[19:43] Well, we're going to enter into

[19:46] executive session,

[19:50] where we'll

[19:52] discuss both of you and have a vote.

[19:56] We'll ask that both

[20:00] candidates can leave the meeting, and we'll inform them, or should we allow them

[20:04] to stay in the-

[20:06] No, I would let them wait. I'm sure they'd like to know the outcome.

[20:09] Yeah, I agree.

[20:11] Okay.

[20:13] Yeah, that's how it's always been done in the past.

[20:15] Right.

[20:15] They just don't go into executive session, just the board.

[20:18] Right.

[20:20] All right. So,

[20:23] I'll make the motion that we all enter into executive session, for the

[20:26] purpose of the election of a new board member of education.

[20:30] I'll second.

[20:31] I'll second.

[20:33] Samantha got you again, Greg. You're a little too slow.

[20:36] Just for a laugh.

[20:40] Are you inviting anyone else in,

[20:43] Superintendent or anybody?

[20:44] No.

[20:45] Okay.

[20:46] All right. Let's do a roll call. Samantha?

[20:48] Yes.

[20:50] Kim?

[20:51] Yes.

[20:52] Kathy?

[20:52] Yes.

[20:54] Amy?

[20:54] I.

[20:56] Peggy?

[20:57] Yes.

[20:58] Ed?

[20:59] Hi.

[21:00] Greg?

[21:01] Yes.

[21:02] Dominic?

[21:03] Yes.

[21:04] Great. Executive session, 7:20.

[21:07] All right, guys.

[21:11] There's nothing to join.

[21:13] There's no breakout room yet. Yeah.

[21:16] Quentin, can you create a breakout room?

[21:19] There.

[21:20] Okay.

[21:22] Okay.

[21:26] Once

[21:33] they'll be back.

[21:34] Okay. We're all back. Are we all in favor?

[21:36] Yes.

[21:37] Is everybody back? Yeah, I think so.

[21:39] Yes.

[21:40] Yep.

[21:41] Good. Okay.

[21:45] Okay, so now everyone's going to vote on that BOE vacancy

[21:49] ballot

[21:53] and submit it.

[21:58] Oh.

[22:01] And that should go to Quentin.

[22:06] Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, I have to pull it up. Okay.

[22:20] Where's

[22:25] my...

[22:36] Quentin, let me know when you have everyone's tally.

[22:39] I have seven responses.

[22:42] I know. He's waiting on mine. I can't pull it up. I lost it now. Good Lord.

[22:46] It was in an email, Peggy.

[22:48] Yes. I know. I read it this afternoon.

[22:51] Okay.

[22:51] Dom, can you just email her the link?

[22:54] Yeah.

[22:55] Text or-

[22:56] Of course I can.

[22:58] Or I can do it. Hold on.

[23:01] I got it.

[23:06] Peggy?

[23:07] Yes, sir.

[23:08] Oh, wait. I sent it to your Yahoo!. Sorry.

[23:10] That's all right.

[23:11] That's

[23:15] the only one that's coming up.

[23:19] Margaret.

[23:19] Yeah, I'll send it there, Peggy.

[23:21] All right. Send it to the Yahoo!.

[23:24] Yeah.

[23:25] I just texted it.

[23:27] I don't know if she'll have access on the Yahoo!.

[23:32] Did Samantha say she texted it?

[23:34] Yeah, I just texted it to you.

[23:37] Okay.

[23:39] Something's loading.

[24:00] Did you get it?

[24:01] No. It's not with my-- Oh, wait a minute.

[24:04] It's loading a few more. Give me a second.

[24:15] No, it didn't come up, Sam.

[24:18] Peggy, I-

[24:19] Did you get it in your Yahoo?

[24:20] It's in the top of your email, your-

[24:22] Okay

[24:22] ... Fairfield email. I sent it to the top.

[24:26] Okay. I'll have to...

[24:31] I'd switch on my laptop. I don't have that loaded on my phone.

[24:34] Let me check my Yahoo

[24:37] Mail because I have so many things on this.

[24:40] It's showing that it delivered to you at 7:31.

[24:44] You should have a direct link to the vacancy ballot.

[24:48] I saw it this afternoon when we were getting ready. I apologize for it. Okay.

[24:54] Are you looking at your text messages?

[24:57] Yeah, I just got it from Dom.

[25:05] Any time now, phone.

[25:14] What's

[25:15] going

[25:24] on?

[25:24] Peggy, how you doing?

[25:25] It didn't come up. I'm drowning at the moment. It didn't come up.

[25:28] All right, so-

[25:30] Let me just try the Yahoo Mail.

[25:35] Are we still-

[25:37] If you check your mail, it was sent

[25:41] 9:51 a.m. to your Board of Ed

[25:45] mail, and it's from-

[25:48] Right

[25:48] ... Paul Gouveia, and then below that, there's the link.

[25:53] So if you go back to your mail, your Board of Ed mail-

[25:56] All right, let me see

[25:57] ... check for the 9:51 email. You'll see-

[26:00] Yeah, I saw that.

[26:01] I did. See, I'm sorry. I saw that this morning.

[26:04] So go back to that. If you saw it, it's still there unless you deleted it.

[26:07] No, I didn't.

[26:09] Okay.

[26:09] I also brought it up to the top of your email, so it should be the

[26:12] first

[26:15] one in your email now.

[26:17] It's not letting me switch my account. I know. I'm trying to get back into that.

[26:21] Sorry, everybody. Hold on.

[26:26] I'm going to hold you up. Can I just vote orally?

[26:28] All right.

[26:29] Yeah.

[26:30] You could, or you could just email Quinton,

[26:34] just your vote.

[26:36] Okay.

[26:39] Quinton, let us know when you have it.

[26:41] Okay. What's

[26:44] Quinton's email?

[26:46] Actually, you're probably better off then just doing it orally.

[26:52] Orally. I'm sorry.

[26:53] Peggy, do you know how-

[26:53] I'm so glad I bought a new laptop. What? Go ahead.

[26:56] Do you know how to do the chat, because then I don't...

[27:00] Would that just go to Quinton? Then it's not like you have to announce it.

[27:04] The chat is not on. Hold on.

[27:06] No, I don't see it.

[27:07] I don't-

[27:08] Quinton, how about you give her your phone number and she calls you with

[27:12] the vote?

[27:13] That works.

[27:15] We could.

[27:17] Cool.

[27:17] You don't want to say that over a public meeting either, though, Quinton.

[27:20] No.

[27:20] Yeah, you're right.

[27:22] Yeah.

[27:23] Dom, if I could just insert here, I think at this

[27:26] point, I think it just needs to be verbal and-

[27:31] Yeah

[27:31] ... you have the rest of the votes.

[27:34] Quinton has those.

[27:36] Yeah. Peggy, go ahead. Give your verbal.

[27:39] Well, both of the candidates are up on my screen. Are we back?

[27:43] Are we still in executive session?

[27:45] No.

[27:45] No, we're in the main session. They're here, and if you can't

[27:49] find an electronic way to do this-

[27:51] Oh, I... Yeah, I know. And I apologize for keeping everybody

[27:55] on the lam like this. All right. I think I would

[28:00] vote for Joanne.

[28:02] Okay. Thank you. Quinton, can you tally up the votes?

[28:07] Yep. That is an exact even split, four to four.

[28:13] Okay.

[28:14] That's never happened before.

[28:14] In this case, the first select woman has to make the final decision

[28:18] on this.

[28:19] Don't we have the option of going back into executive session and deliberating

[28:23] one more time, or no?

[28:24] I don't know. This has never happened, so-

[28:26] So-

[28:26] ... if that's in the rule book, then by all means, we could go back

[28:31] So Dom, if there are any further

[28:34] questions that you'd like to ask of Joanne and Frank, the

[28:38] board can do so now.

[28:41] You can also

[28:43] take another vote if you

[28:46] feel that's appropriate. You could go back into executive session.

[28:50] I think that only works with going back if there's

[28:54] anybody who was on the fence or conflicted, but if everybody

[28:58] is 100% confident about their vote,

[29:00] then it's almost a waste of time,

[29:04] and maybe we should just move it forward through the channels.

[29:08] Well, one option is for each candidate to give

[29:11] another

[29:13] 30 second pitch on themselves, and

[29:17] then we take it from there, and if

[29:20] no one has a change of heart, then it has to go to Pat

[29:23] Dumonico.

[29:25] Are we okay with that?

[29:26] Mm-hmm.

[29:27] Mm-hmm.

[29:29] Okay. So last time we asked Joanne to go first.

[29:31] This time, Frank, if you want to give us 30 second pitch

[29:35] why you should be on the Board of Education.

[29:40] Okay.

[29:43] Trying not to repeat what I'd said earlier, but I just feel that I have a

[29:47] vested interest in the

[29:50] continuing success that I feel is what's been going on

[29:54] in the school

[29:56] for both of my children. I feel that I have the time, the heart

[30:01] to dedicate

[30:03] to the board,

[30:05] utilize

[30:07] boards of position.

[30:10] Very much appreciate

[30:11] half of you voting for me, and appreciate the consideration

[30:14] of others as well.

[30:18] Thank you.

[30:19] Thank you

[30:24] Okay, Joanne, please.

[30:27] I bring passion to the job. I bring love

[30:31] of children. I bring love of the profession of education.

[30:37] I want to have a hand in

[30:40] forming the next generation of

[30:44] students that we have. I love New Fairfield.

[30:49] And I have the time now, because I'm in retirement,

[30:53] to devote to this position.

[30:58] And I love to read and do research, and I love big picture stuff.

[31:02] So,

[31:03] I thank you for considering me, and

[31:08] thank you.

[31:10] Okay. Thank you, Joanne. Quinton, could you get us

[31:14] a breakout room to go back into executive session?

[31:18] Make the motion.

[31:20] Motion to go back into executive session for the second time for the purpose of the

[31:24] election of a new board of education member.

[31:27] I'll second.

[31:28] I second.

[31:28] Second.

[31:28] Me too.

[31:30] All right, all in favor?

[31:32] Well, who was the second? I think it was-

[31:34] It was me. It's Sam.

[31:37] Oh, who made the motion then?

[31:38] Dominic.

[31:39] I did.

[31:39] Dominic made the motion.

[31:40] Oh, okay.

[31:42] Second.

[31:43] All right, are we all in favor or you want me to do a roll call?

[31:46] No. Do a roll call, please.

[31:47] Roll call? Okay. Greg?

[31:49] Do a roll call, please.

[31:51] Okay. Greg?

[31:53] Aye.

[31:55] Amy?

[31:55] Aye.

[31:57] Samantha?

[32:00] Oh, some people went out already.

[32:01] Yes.

[32:03] All right. Let's see who's still here. Kim? Yes.

[32:07] Dominic is still here.

[32:08] Aye.

[32:09] All right. Half of you didn't pay attention and you-

[32:12] Exactly. All right

[32:13] ... failed this quiz, but

[32:16] Ed, Peggy,

[32:18] and Samantha,

[32:20] and who else?

[32:22] That's it, I think.

[32:24] And Kathy all left, but-

[32:26] Yeah.

[32:27] All right. We'll go in there also, Suzanne, if it's fine.

[32:29] 7:39 PM, you're in executive session.

[32:31] Quinton, can I get an invite to the room again?

[32:34] I'm sorry, I had to exit out.

[32:40] The room is open.

[32:44] Hold on.

[32:45] So

[32:57] I'd

[33:02] like to make a motion that we come out of executive session.

[33:07] Kim, I'll second.

[33:08] Kim second. Suzanne, we won't do a roll call.

[33:10] It's understood that we-

[33:12] All right, 7:49.

[33:16] So we have

[33:18] met an impasse, and the decision will be made by Pat

[33:22] Delmonico,

[33:23] and I'll be in contact with her in the morning,

[33:26] and we'll get an answer, and we'll inform both

[33:30] candidates. I really want to say I thank you both

[33:35] for sharing some time with us and offering your

[33:38] perspectives on this, and we appreciate it.

[33:43] And we thank you both for your commitment to

[33:46] New Fairfield schools and to the kids in our community.

[33:50] So thank you.

[33:52] I'd like to, at this point, make a motion to adjourn.

[33:55] Before you do, can I ask a quick question, Dom?

[33:57] It's really just a procedural question, is one-

[33:59] Sure

[34:00] ... I just want to make sure that I get this right for the minutes.

[34:03] Is

[34:04] a decision made by the first selectman or the entire board of selectman?

[34:07] Do you know?

[34:09] I don't know. That I'll find out in the morning, and I can contact

[34:12] you and let you know for the minutes.

[34:14] Okay.

[34:14] Suzanne, I think it's just the first selectman.

[34:17] Okay.

[34:17] She's... Yeah.

[34:19] Well, Suzanne, I'll confirm that.

[34:21] She'll check. Yeah.

[34:21] Okay. All right. For now, I'll just put that, and then,

[34:26] who voted for who is, if anybody wants that

[34:30] information, they can get it. Is that correct?

[34:35] No. No, I don't think it's a secret ballot.

[34:37] These were anonymous ballots as the board has done in the past.

[34:41] Mm-hmm.

[34:42] Oh, okay.

[34:45] All right. Maybe I'm getting the boards confused because I think that was different

[34:48] than the board of finance. Okay.

[34:49] Yes. Stop asking questions, Suzanne.

[34:51] Stop asking questions. Motion to adjourn.

[34:54] Motion to adjourn. Could I have a second on that?

[34:57] Second.

[34:57] Greg.

[34:59] Greg seconded. We'll give it to Greg.

[35:01] Greg. No, actually Peggy was first, but-

[35:03] I was first.

[35:05] Yeah.

[35:05] Give me a little bit of credit tonight. Okay, there we go.

[35:07] Greg, you have a delay. All in favor?

[35:09] Aye.

[35:09] Aye. Everybody? Okay, great.

[35:12] Thank you.

[35:12] Good night, everybody.

[35:13] Thank you, everyone.

[35:13] Thank you. Happy 4th of July. Thank you.

[35:15] Thanks, everyone.

[35:16] Bye.

[35:16] Stay cool.

Board of Education Special Meeting 29 June 2026

Transcript