By James Lomuscio
After what Westport Board of Education Chairman Michael Gordon called “a long engagement,” Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer—hired in February and appointed July 1—attended her first school board meeting tonight as the town’s education leader.
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Colleen Palmer (in her office): she has visited every school. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Gordon exuded an air of enthusiasm about Palmer, former superintendent of Weston, being at the helm as the school system readied for Thursday’s start of the 2016-17 academic year for Westport’s 5,612 students.
“They represent 22 percent of our population in Westport,” Palmer said, stressing that her guiding principles put students’ needs first, making education a joy.
Tonight’s changing of the guard for the board that had worked for the past 17 years with former Superintendent Elliott Landon, who retired in June, was also marked by another change. School board member Brett Aronow announced she will be stepping down effective Sept. 30, saying she recently sold her home.
“I look forward to a very good replacement,” she said.
Gordon said that the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) would be charged with picking a replacement, as Aronow is a Democrat. Sept. 16 is the deadline for applying, he said.
In her address to the board, Palmer outlined her philosophy of promoting emotional intelligence among students, an approach she said was in agreement with Gordon’s goal of “academic excellence and kindness” among students. She also talked about planning for long-term enrollments, infrastructure needs, examining instructional space, improved communication with parents and town officials and student safety.
“Safety and security underscore everything we do with students,” she said, noting that she recently held a five-hour safety meeting with principals and staff.
Palmer also said she has spent the last seven weeks on site at each school.
“I have walked two million square feet of our (eight) portfolio schools; tremendous improvements have been made,” she said.
Elio Longo, school business administrator, reported that $1.2 million of operational and capital improvements funds were spent this summer to renovate Westport’s eight schools. Among the projects were new tiling, locker replacements, new cabinets and window flashing, he said.
Palmer also said she met with each of the district’s principals for half-a-day to understand what “the students experience in each one of our schools.”
She also vowed commitment to work with the board and the community and to communicate more effectively with parents, such as sending out text messages about school closing or delays due to inclement weather.
In addition to looking to the future, there was also business at hand. Palmer recommended to the board that a $1,433,957 school surplus be returned to the town to offset the loss of state funded cost sharing grants, and that $513,957 of that amount be deposited into the schools’ carryover account for future needs. The board unanimously approved the requests.
