New Canaan Election 2021: Fatou Niang For Board Of Education

NEW CANAAN, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in town will be on the ballot.

To help readers make an informed decision on Nov. 2, Patch has reached out to local candidates to share their views on a few topics.

Democrat Fatou Niang, 52, is running for the Board of Education in New Canaan.

Occupation: Realtor

• Husband: Nabi Niang
• Sons: Lucas Niang - NFL Player, Kansas City Chiefs; Ethan Niang - Freshman at Duke

Experience: NA

Family in government: No

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

The single most pressing issue facing the BOE is its integrity and ability in remaining non political with focus on our student body needs while improving upon our excellence in education.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

I believe in a nonpartisan BOE focused on what’s best for our students, teachers and staff. I believe in science and vaccination has our way out of this health crisis. I am for mask at school to protect the most vulnerable same way we do for all student with life threatening allergies. I trust in this current administration because it has proven again and again that collaborative work with the current and past BOE members has been extremely successful, and productive and to the benefit of our kids and community.

Accomplishments:

I have been very involved and engaged in my community from the get-go. From volunteering in my kids classes, or PFA activities (Teachers appreciation days) CERT, Red Cross, Newcomers’ Club, Young Women’s League, YMCA, the library to STAR, a non-profit I have founded which goal is to provide tools to our community to navigate the issues of bias and racism.

As a Realtor, I have achieved great success in my field and have a great sense of how important property value are to and for our community. My experience of our school system, with two kids that went through it, and gives me a clear understanding of the impact any decision taken by the BOE will have our student body.

Other issues:

Also important to me are these issues. Always retain local control of our district, achieve our DEI goals along with fostering a safe school environment where all students are not only welcome but belong.

Last but not least, uphold and improve upon our excellent curriculum while practicing fiscal prudence, and It is important to give necessary staff/teachers support needed for our students to continue to thrive both academically and emotionally.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

Running for BOE has been the most challenging thing I have ever undertaken. It is all worth it though! Our schools are under attacks. This race should have remained local instead the national vitriolic rhetoric was inserted in it with fear mongering tactics about Critical Race Theory, false claims of lack of transparency, etc. These attacks are divisive and not rooted in facts.

We are fortunate to have an extremely experienced and competent Curriculum Leadership Council that always creates and tailors our curriculum for our students while abiding by state grades standards vs using a suggested boilerplate version. To have well-rounded kids we have to take care of them both intellectually, and academically and emotionally. I am looking forward to forward thinking progress and collaborative work with both the administration and other members of the BOE.