Patch Candidate Profile: Katie Flynn, Board Of Education

FAIRFIELD, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in Fairfield will be on the ballot, including Board of Selectman, Board of Education, Board of Finance, RTM and others.

To help readers make an informed decision on Nov. 7, Fairfield Patch has reached out to local candidates to share their views on various topics of importance in town.

Patch will post these candidate profiles over the next few weeks, so check back often to see the latest.

Name

Katie Flynn (Kathryn)

How old will you be as of Election Day?

41

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://www.fairfielddemocrats.com/board-candidates/katie-flynn

What city or town do you live in?

Fairfield

What office are you seeking?

Board of Education

Please give us your party affiliation.

Democrat

Education.

University of Connecticut & Fairfield University -Coursework toward B.A., Elementary Education

What is your occupation?

My professional background includes years of work in Education both in the preschool setting as well as a paraprofessional in the New Canaan Public Schools. For the past decade I have been home providing childcare for our young children as well as supporting our family's local small business.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

I have been married to my husband Chris for 12 years. We have three wonderful children, Patrick (11) and our twins Owen & Lawson (8)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

No.

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 running for Board of Education because I believe all children in Fairfield deserve an exceptional education and experience while in the Fairfield Public Schools. I became involved in following the work of the Fairfield Board of Education through parent engagement and advocacy when my oldest child entered Kindergarten. I quickly learned how impactful the Board’s work was to the daily experience of our students & staff. For the last six years I have been the Board of Education representative for our local school PTA. Through that work I have attended countless meetings, sat on various committees, helped share that information with our parent community and advocated for funding for our school budgets. I am committed to promoting innovative programmatics that help our students keep up in an ever changing world and further develop critical Social-Emotional skills, problem-solving abilities, and lifelong creativity. I believe a well rounded, rigorous and robust education is needed for all children to succeed and also to support our community as a whole. I support investing in our schools to properly maintain our infrastructure, retain high quality educators, and update our curriculum to meet the needs of all students and uphold the investment of the taxpayer in the high quality public schools of Fairfield.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Funding & Facilities

As a Board of Education member I intend to continue to advocate for the budget funding that represents the values of this community, supports the growing needs of our students, retains & attracts high quality educators and ensures we can continue to properly maintain & update our school facilities in a timely manner.

Our community over the last two years has seen bipartisan and unanimous Board of Education support for the health and safety concerns in regards to the lack of mechanical means of fresh air and air conditioning in many of our school buildings. I plan to continue to advocate for that very pressing and growing need. Our schools must be healthy and safe facilities to be conducive for learning and teaching.

I commit to working collaboratively with our other town bodies towards funding strategies (both the operating and capital budgets) that ensure progress for our school district while being fiscally responsible to the needs of our community as a whole. I hope to help create a long term plan for our school facilities that meets the needs of our students and growing programmatics, that is proactive in planning and funding to help reduce delays and escalating costs, and that protects the investment of all Fairfield taxpayers by maintaining the high quality schools that residents value and support.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As an active PTA and community leader as well as a parent of three children currently in the Fairfield Public Schools, I understand the importance of fostering strong stakeholder relationships between students, staff, families and the Board of Education. As a Board member I hope to continue to build dynamic relationships between our schools and our community. As a result of my community work I have been deeply engaged and involved with Board of Education work for the past six years. I have attended the vast majority of Board of Education meetings over the last six years as well as various BOE committees and town meetings, usually making public comments to various topics from curriculum to most recently redistricting. This knowledge, engagement and perspective differentiates me from the other candidates.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

I have been very vocal since 2019 in my concerns in regards to redistricting and the methodology of that work. As a member of the parent community and PTA leader I was an active listener to the concerns of parents all over the district during the last three years. I believe in and will continue to advocate for our neighborhood school model. I spoke publicly on many occasions to my concerns for the need for increased focus on the social emotional and academic impacts in any and all redistricting conversations. I also spoke to and continue to believe that we need utilize multiple avenues to address the issues facing our district, including more in depth facilities planning and exploring ways to collaborate with the state and neighboring communities on strategies that have found successful. I am hopeful that work will be able to proceed now that the current Board has resolved there are no current viable options before them that will not have significant adverse impacts on our students, facilities and community.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I hope to continue to advocate for and build stronger stakeholder between parents from all capacities of our community, from our PTAs to our volunteer and Senior organizations. Fairfield truly does have a blessing of resources and I hope to advocate for inclusion of a variety of viewpoints and input. I hope to see more innovative programs and curriculum that help prepare our students for a quickly changing world. I will continue to speak to and support the needs of our diverse learners and look for ways to expand and support students Social & Emotional needs at all levels.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Apart from my engagement with the Board of Education I am a committed and active member of the Fairfield PTA community. As stated above I became involved in my children’s PTA community early in my oldest child’s Kindergarten year. Since then I served in many capacities including PTA and Budget Representative, SEPTA Representative, Chair of the Kindness Committee and PTA President of North Stratfield School for the last two years. During that time I saw directly the importance of all stakeholders, particularly parent engaged organizations, to the success of our public schools and thriving neighborhood school communities. I was also engaged at a town wide level through Fairfield’s PTA Council serving as Advocacy Chair and PTA Council President Elect & President. One of my main focuses as PTA Council President was communications between the district and our families. I advocated for and am thrilled to see both Parent Square and School Dismissal Manager communications tools incorporated into our District communications this school year. They are testimony to the work between our parents and administration. As PTA Council President Elect & President I was also able to develop relationships across all our school communities and neighborhoods. This work helped me develop a knowledge, love and appreciation for all of our school neighborhood communities, if you have met me in person you surely have heard me speak to it!

My work at PTA Council also afforded me opportunities to advocate for budgets, building projects, policies and grants that would help organizations like our PTAs & SEPTA better support our students, teachers and communities. During the Covid-19 pandemic the FPS Remote Learning Academy needed PTA Council representation in order to create an PTA organization to support those students and families. I was able to collaborate with the FPS staff and be a liaison so students and families could fundraise and have representation during a difficult and trying time. I also was a founding member of the Fairfield Athletic Foundation and hope to continue to find ways to advocate and speak to the needs of our student and youth athletes. I understand the importance of fostering a child's passions whether they be athletic, artistic or otherwise, and the impact support of those programs can have on the academic success for students and the richness of our community as a whole.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you"

This advice has showcased to me that collaboration, compromise and empathy is needed for progress forward in life. This mindset helps me to focus on finding commonality and compassion. I have found what we agree upon quite often outweighs our differences and can create opportunities for solutions that all can support and move forward on together.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am passionate about the future of our public schools and ensuring that all students receive the education that enables them all to succeed and find joy in their passions and pursuits.

I am eager and ready to share my experience and commitment to the Fairfield Board of Education.