Glastonbury Candidate Profile 2019: Kristy Notarangelo, Board Ed

GLASTONBURY, CT — Glastonbury's election season is at its peak, and there are plenty of contested races with candidates eager to represent their town in November's municipal election. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns, and has been publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Kristy Notarangelo is running for Board of Education as a Republican.

Occupation:

Specialized Behavioral Care, LLC, Glastonbury, Connecticut 2011 - Current
Founder & Owner / Clinical Psychotherapist
CIGNA, Bloomfield, Connecticut
Vice President of Payer Sales: Emerging Markets Division 2007 - 2009
Continuous Quality Improvement Director: Employer Services – Production 2006 - 2007
Project Manager
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York
Black Belt: Performance Excellence Department 2004 - 2006
Consultant: Reimbursement Management Department 2001 - 2004
Therapist: Adult Inpatient Dual Diagnosis 2000 - 2001
Stony Lodge Hospital, Briarcliff Manor, New York 1999 - 2000
Therapist: Inpatient Adolescent Dual Diagnoses
Daytop Village, Inc., Millbrook, New York 1998 - 1999
Therapist: Long Term Residential Treatment

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:
N/A

The single most pressing issue facing our town/district is _______, and
this is what I intend to do about it.

The most important issue I see facing our town is balancing technological competitiveness while maintaining the ability for social/emotional growth of our children. Reliance on technology alone endangers our children's ability to interact independently of e-communication. It is critical that we preserve the growth of rudimentary social skills and the capacity for non-technological interactions. Through learning necessary social skills, our children become empowered to build a relationship, which in turn, reduces unwarranted anxiety frequently masked by unhealthy behaviors. We must face every crisis as it comes up in our community, such as our current epidemic of opioid abuse and vaping, a growing and alarming trend causing destructive consequences for our children.

As new challenges face our children and our society, policies require thorough reviews and continuous amendments to sustain safety within our schools. Today, unfortunately, we are facing troubling trends of early experimentation with drugs and alcohol. There are reported incidents of opioid use even in middle school, in addition to, engagement in unhealthy behaviors such as the most recent vaping epidemic, internet and technology addiction. These behaviors threaten the physical, social and emotional safety within our schools. I support early education, intervention and prevention for students and parents, so we can empower professionals to inform, educate and rally around the challenges our students are faced with. We cannot allow these safety threats to penetrate our community resulting in social avoidance, poor social skills, learning problems and self-esteem depletion. As society is changing, we need to move ahead of the curve of newly emerging trends, which have a potential to impact our children at much younger ages than in previous years. The safety of our children reaches far beyond their years in Glastonbury schools. Preparedness of our children today results in successful transitions to adulthood tomorrow.

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

I offer a combination of distinctive skills which have proven to be an asset throughout both my clinical and corporate careers. My strong fundamental clinical background has been successful in utilizing behavioral techniques to motivate, engage and effect change within groups where collaboration has been challenging. I am an independent thinker and can engage stakeholders, motivate and move them towards positive change. In addition, I can provide the Board of Education with direct insight into risk factors which threaten the social and emotional health of our children. Issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, vaping and technology addictions which require earlier intervention than we have historically provided. On the Board of Education, I can offer a pragmatic response to effective leadership.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

Glastonbury Republicans are successful in exercising fiscal responsibility and integrity, which has been proven effective while they held the majority in town. As the state of Connecticut continues to reduce funding for education, it is critical we elect fiscally conservative and responsible leaders to ensure that the monetary burden of state reductions do not translate into higher mill rates in Glastonbury. Republican majority leadership will allow Glastonbury to create long term strategic plans focused on providing the best possible education to our children without transferring costs to our taxpayers. Better education does not equate to a more expensive education.

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

I have been a resident of Glastonbury since 2006. I was born, raised and educated in New York where I obtained two master's degrees; Master of Social Work and Master of Business Administration. My husband and I were married in 2005 and have a set of 10-year-old twin boys in the 5th grade at Hopewell Elementary School. I am the founder of Specialized Behavioral Care, a psychiatric private practice located in Glastonbury which focuses on the treatment of addiction and mood disorders. My strong clinical skills have been pivotal for achieving effective positive change in direct patient care, as well as within the corporate arena. I was successful as Vice President of Sales in Emerging Markets where the focus was on Performance Improvement and Process Redesign. I have vast experience managing, redesigning and implementing both large- and small-scale budgets which afforded me the opportunity to exercise fiscal responsibility and restraint. My leadership experience extends beyond clinical and corporate achievements. I have served in Glastonbury community organizations such as President of Hill and Dale Garden Club and President of Deercliff Homeowners Association, where I am currently the secretary and treasurer.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Over the years I have received so much advice from people I love, respect and admire. In my opinion, advice is overrated and often not followed. If you ask right questions you will find the right answers. Answers which work for you, to own, internalize, and then enact in your life. Collectively, we make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time. Communicate, communicate and then communicate some more! Show confidence in your ability to hear and follow your own advice.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your
positions?

I am running for a seat on the Board of Education because I am eager to support and serve the district in efforts to help make a difference in our education system. I believe that a school board must be receptive and responsive to all students, teachers, parents and the community at large - everyone has a right to be heard. Through effective leadership and open communication, we can preserve and improve the renowned quality of the Glastonbury school system while exercising a fiscally prudent and cost-effective approach to the choices we make on the Board of Education. It is equally important to use our taxpayer dollars wisely in order to ensure the high standards of our education in an environment of Connecticut's strained economy where the fiscal burden is increasingly shifting to the residents of Glastonbury.