Manchester Dems Pick Ott For Vacant School Board Seat

MANCHESTER, CT — Manchester native Dean Ott is poised to become the newest member of the local school board.

The Democratic Town Committee Thursday endorsed Ott to fill a seat on the Board of Education left vacant with the recent resignation of Melanie Stefanovicz, also a Democrat.

The town committee acted to ratify Ott, after his name was forwarded to it from the party’s Nominating Committee. Ott's name now goes to the Board of Education, which will make the actual appointment and seat him.

If Ott’s selection is finalized, he will serve until November 2023, when voters will elect a candidate to fill the seat for a full term. Ott would be eligible to run for a full term in the November, 2023 election.

Ott currently serves on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission and works at The Travelers Companies, specializing in worker compensation issues.

Democratic Town Chairman Michael Pohl said of the endorsement, "In recommending Dean Ott, we are offering a candidate who understands young people, who knows our town well, and who appreciates the challenges facing parents in our community. If ultimately selected for the vacant seat on the Board of Education, I am confident Dean Ott will play a strong role in moving our schools forward."

Added Ott, "I thank Democratic Town Committee members for their support, and I am honored to have been recommended for the open Board of Education seat. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to give back to the community that raised me. I look forward to working with the Superintendent, school administrators, and colleagues on the board to make certain our public schools offer real and important opportunities for students of all backgrounds and that we provide all of our students with the tools they need to create a prosperous future for themselves and our community."

Ott is a graduate of Manchester's public schools – Keeney, Bennet, Illing, and Manchester High School – and the third generation of his family to make Manchester home. Ott, his wife, and their four children live in the house on Lyness St. that his grandparents purchased in 1954.

His three children are students in the town's public schools, and his youngest will be joining them in the next few years.

Ott graduated from MHS in 2011, and holds a degree in History from Central Connecticut State University, having graduated in 2015. While at CCSU, he served as Senior Class President and was active in the CCSU Student Government Association.

Ott was active in the Boy Scouts, and earned the Eagle Scout Award, Scouting’s highest honor, as a member of Troop 47 (now Troop 123).

He is a member of Center Congregational Church, and a volunteer leader for the Girl Scouts.