Enfield Candidate Profile: Peter Jonaitis, Board Of Education

ENFIELD, CT — The 2023 municipal election season is heating up in Enfield, and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Enfield Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Name: Peter Jonaitis

How old will you be as of Election Day? President Truman was in office when I was born!

Does your campaign have a website? No

What city or town do you live in? Enfield

What office are you seeking? Board of Education

Party affiliation: Republican

Education: Attended Westfield State, American International College, and UConn. Studied Education, History, and Administration.

What is your occupation? Retired teacher

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.
My lovely wife and best friend is Mary. She was a speech therapist, and taught in West Springfield Ma., then chose to be a stay at home Mom, to raise our three kids. My oldest daughter is named Jennifer and is now a high school English teacher outside of Clifton Park, New York. My son, Jeremiah, is a master carpenter and works on multi million dollar houses in the Whitefish Montana area. My youngest daughter is named Jessica and she works for the United States postal system. All three of my children graduated from Enfield High School. We also have two beautiful grandchildren, named Harper and Jasper. I am extremely proud of all three of my children, and they appear to be very happy in life.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No, I’m the only one who’s made that mistake!

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective? Yes, I served on the Enfield Board of Education for six years.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?
I am seeking to become a Board of Education member once again because I feel this democratically controlled Board of Education, although made up of people who really do care and are doing their best, unfortunately, their best has not accomplished much for the kids of Enfield. I will address my differences with the democrats on the present Board of Education in later questions.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.
There isn’t a single most pressing issue – there are many.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I taught school for 37 1/2 years here in Enfield. I started teaching at Prudence Crandall elementary school and then moved over to HB Stowe for two years, teaching sixth grade. I then moved up to Kosciusko junior high school where I taught 8th and 9th grades until the Big K closed. After that, I moved over to JFK middle school, where I taught US History and World Geography. While at Prudence Crandall, I also had the opportunity to attempt teaching in grades K through five. I taught a week in fifth grade, fourth grade, third grade, and then the second grade teacher wasn’t ready to switch yet. So I went into a kindergarten class. I only lasted three days there- those teachers who teach K through 3 are Saints. The point here is, I’ve been in the classroom from kindergarten to ninth grade.

The knowledge gained from being in all these class levels is priceless, was informative, and educational beyond comprehension. You ask for differences , I don’t think there are any Democrats on the board of education that can come close to that résumé.

In what way has the current officeholder(s) failed the community?
Enfield has been designated as an ‘Alliance District’. Our school system, out of 169 towns in Connecticut, Enfield ranks among the 35 lowest performing school systems in the state.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
(A) First of all, we have to come up with a plan, in writing, as to what is going to be done to get off the alliance district designation.
(B) We went through something known as "pizza gate." It never should’ve happened and in no way, shape or form should it have been in the curriculum. Calling it a mistake is not an explanation.
(C) Time for the public to speak at a BOE meeting should be set at four minutes at every meeting. I also believe the public should have a second chance to speak , 2 minutes, at the end of the meeting if they so choose.
(D) The chairperson has exercised way too much power, particularly when it comes to Roberts Rules of Order and has no more power than the rest of the members of the board. Their job is to run and conduct the meeting, period.
(E) Bring back the modified classes. These are the kids who read at 2 or more years below grade level. They need small classes and teachers who work well with these kids.
(F) The number of administrators that we have in Enfield is top-heavy and extremely expensive. The elementary schools need a principal and a head teacher. The middle school needs a principal and three house masters. Enfield high school needs a principal and three vice principals.
(G) Only town residents should be able to speak at Board of Ed meetings, unless you are a designated guest.
(H) A good look at the salary schedules for teachers and administrators is in order. Next year or the year after, teachers with 12 years experience or more, will be making over $100,000 and have an outstanding medical insurance policy. While this is happening starting teachers at the moment I believe start at around $54,000 a year.
(I) For a number of different reasons home schooling in Enfield is at an all-time high. It is time for all of or at least part of the money parents who pay their taxes in Enfield , to have their money follow their kids to the school of their choice.
(J) For now, all kids who are home schooled should be given an i-pad and the parents should be given lesson plans to generally follow as to what is expected of their kids to learn for their particular grade level.
(K) I would love to see part of the Fermi Annex be used to expand our Voc-Ed offerings. Also, encourage more kids to attend a community college.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
37 1/2 years of teaching and having served on the BOE for 6 years.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Be yourself —family—-and keep your head down!

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I am creative yet somewhat old fashioned. I can be stubborn, yet I’d rather work with others. I am very passionate about my beliefs, yet I will listen to reason. I am conservative yet open to new ideas. I wish I could keep my mouth shut sometimes, but I’ll always speak my piece. I believe right is right and wrong is wrong and discipline in our schools is a must. I am not opposed to change, but make sure it’s reasonable. I believe the kids of Enfield deserve the best education we can provide them, with reading, writing, and arithmetic being paramount in their education. Without these skills chances for a good, well rounded education will be in jeopardy. Without being able to read, a child’s education will be just like treading water.

Finally, an overview of some of the things I’ve done with my former students.
1. While at the elementary level I started competitive basketball games between other elementary schools, with uniforms and cheerleaders. Did plays every year. Also did dance routines. Went at least twice a week, at night, to the new youth center that was briefly on Brainard road .
2. While at the Big K, I coached baseball. That year our only loss was to JFK ! Also coached the Big-K cheerleading squad. However, the best thing I did was to get involved in a program known as Natures Classroom. We took 100 kids to Thompson Island, located in Boston Harbor. Later we took kids to Swansy Lake in New Hampshire— always 100 kids.
3. At JFK I continued to organize and take 100 kids each year up to NH. This program was a week long program dealing with environmental issues, trust building exercises, and getting kids to work in small groups to solve problems put before them. Each year 5 other teachers would come as chaperones. Unfortunately the administration at JFK said I could no longer continue this program durning a school week. Therefore I continued to run the natures classroom program for two more years —-during the spring vacation. I finally stopped the program because I and the other chaperones also had children of our own. This lead me to start running programs overseas during our spring vacation. For seven or eight years I traveled with kids internationally. We went as far west as the Hawaiian islands, New Zealand and Australia. We went as far east as the Soviet Union . My first trip I took only 18 kids to England, Ireland and Wales. The most kids I ever took on a trip was to the Soviet Union, 64 kids attended.
4. Growing up as an Air Force brat, we were constantly moving. I lived in between Newfoundland, the Philippine islands, and Florida. I myself have been to 54 different countries, and I’ve been to all 50 states , many of them many times. Just this fall my wife and I spent five weeks on the road traveling from Kentucky to Arizona, up to Salt Lake City , Montana , and back down to the Cherokee nation and the Smokey mountains, then back up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We visited 11 national parks.
5. Also, while at JFK I ran field trips from New York City to Boston, and even to the Bushnell in Hartford for evening plays. I also coached girls soccer at JFK and all the years I coached , we lost only one game and that was an against an elite team from Western , Ma., in a night game. We lost that game 2-1.
6. I was also part of three negotiation teams for the teachers. On the last negotiation team, I tried to eliminate three steps within the salary schedule so teachers could get to maximum earlier. This unfortunately was voted down primarily by teachers who were already on the top step. Sound familiar?
7. Finally, I loved teaching— it was a passion. I miss it. Many changes have taken place since I retired. Unfortunately I don’t feel all these changes have made our schools better. Having legislators tell teachers and the towns what they have to include in their curriculums is nonsense. We have already lost many of our colleges to wokeness and far left-wing ideas. We cannot afford loose control of our public schools.

I thank all those who have read my thoughts and would please ask you to vote for the entire Republican slate of candidates running for the Enfield BOE. This election is too important to NOT vote for change.