LETTER: Return Christopher Pattacini to Manchester BOE

I am honored to serve on Manchester’s board of education since 2008 and for the last five years as its chairman. I hope that you will support me and the other Democrats running for the board of education this November 3rd.

We’ve made some great improvements over the last few years. We have a new superintendent and leadership team, a new mission and vision that places student outcomes first, new family resource centers designed to facilitate partnerships with families, improved school climate and safety, and of course with the passage of last year’s referendum, our community is embarking on improving our school buildings. In addition, we have a strong working relationship with Manchester’s Board of Directors, as shown by the unanimous support of this year’s Board of Education budget by the Board of Directors. Despite these accomplishments, we know our work is not done and we will continue to foster reform efforts to improve student achievement.

The board has unanimously adopted a mission and vision that places student outcomes first. What I’m especially proud of is the fact that our vision for high quality education goes beyond high test scores and includes the development of character traits such as a strong work ethic, critical thinking, and valuing others, so that students make sound personal decisions, value all educational opportunities, and take responsibility for their actions.

These are the measures we should hold ourselves accountable to, so that in the words of our mission statement, we create contributing members of society.

I ask that you support me and the other three other Democratic board of education candidates, so that we can continue this important work. All of us have children in Manchester’s public schools and are committed to our public schools. Norm DeLaura and Melanie Stephanovicz are each running for their first term on the board. Norm has been an active advocate during the recent school bond referendum and Melanie has been involved in Waddell’s PTA and school governance council. Neal Leon is running for his third term and has proven to be a passionate, committed board member who brings a wealth of business and facilities management experience.

With your support I look forward to continuing our work to make our school system the best it can be for our students and our community.

Christopher Pattacini
Manchester