Greenwich Election 2021 Profile: Cody Kittle For Board Of Ed.

GREENWICH, CT — Election Day on Nov. 2 is fast approaching, and there are a number of key races on the ballot in Greenwich.

Patch reached out to candidates for local office to get more information on their campaigns and the issues that are facing the town.

Republican Cody Kittle, 32, is running for Greenwich Board of Education.

Occupation: Associate Portfolio Manager

Family: My wife Alexandra and my two year old daughter Annabelle. My parents live in Greenwich, Kit and Laurette Kittle, as well as my in-laws, Chuck and Deborah Royce.

Experience: No

Family in government: No

The single biggest issue in town is ______, and I plan to do this about it:

The decline in the quality of our schools. We see this in declining enrollment, with 182 fewer students this year despite the recent influx of families into Greenwich and 25 percent of children in the district going to private schools. We see it in proficiency scores. Only 59 percent of our 5th graders are deemed proficient in Math using the state's definition. That number is only 29 percent for low income students. We see it in survey results; only 55 percent of our students feel that school is "interesting, important and useful" according to the BOE's recent community survey.

This is Greenwich, CT. We have amazing parents, we have the highest paid teachers in the state, we have a vibrant community supporting our students. You can’t rise to low expectations, and we need to reset what we expect. That starts with leadership on the BOE.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

What is unique about the BOE election is that you only run against candidates from your own party. I think the Republican candidates have a lot in common. Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony and Megan Galletta are both the type of people that make Greenwich a wonderful town. They, like me, are running because they care and they want to work to make the schools the best.

I think I benefit from a few experiences that could be useful on the BOE. First is that I have served on multiple corporate boards of both public and private companies, and have a track record of helping drive substantial value creation on behalf of those enterprises. The other candidates do not have any corporate Board experience.

Second is that I think I have strong analytical skills. I have a degree in Mathematics, am well versed in econometrics and my current job is heavily quantitative. I can dissect information to get to the truth. I think this also helps in ensuring the Board stays cordial, because data and truth bring people together.

Accomplishments:

I’ve been very fortunate in life and my career, but my best qualifications are not my accomplishments, but mistakes I have made. That is where all the learning really happens. That includes hiring and backing the wrong CEOs of companies and falling to put the right accountability frameworks in place. It includes not properly underwriting capital projects. It includes failure to appropriately scrutinize budgets.

I am very sympathetic to some of the challenges the current BOE members have faced because I have gone through similar learning experiences and made similar mistakes. However, as a new BOE member, I will not need to learn on the job. The tasks the BOE handles are what I have been doing and learning my entire career.

Perhaps most significant is my ability to separate my ego and preconceived notions from the pursuit of the truth. Effective BOE members need to be able to respond to the facts as they evolve, and not be scared to adjust their opinions accordingly.

Other issues:

Sound governance on the Board. Cordiality between board members and an apolitical and empirical approach to issues.

Transparency for parents and the town. Data needs to be honestly presented and comprehensive. Children do not benefit when we make it hard for parents to understand how our schools compare to other schools, how we are performing vs. times in the past, and other key indicators.

Clear accountability frameworks. Parents, students and teachers need to understand what the expectations are for all constituents of our schools and what we are doing to hold leadership accountable.

Evidence based decisions. We should not let fads, abstract feelings or popular notions that are unsubstantiated by research drive choices that impact students. The case needs to be made based on the facts and the evidence.

Sensibile capital prioritization. It does not make much sense to me that many of our buildings are not ADA compliant, despite the law being on the books for 31 years. It does not make much sense to me that we have undertaken discretionary capital projects when the BOE’s own assessment of Central Middle School determined parts of the building as structurally unsound. We owe our disabled students accommodating facilities and we owe all of our students safe buildings.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

My interest in the BOE started because of my personal attachment to the Greenwich Public Schools. I graduated from GHS in 2007 and believe the public schools provided me some of the most important and formative experiences of my life that continue to benefit me to this day.

My greatest joy is my two year old daughter Annabelle. I hope that one day she can get as much out of the Greenwich school system as I was able to, and I hope to work hard on behalf of her and all future students.