Stamford Election 2021: Jaclyn Annette Pioli For Board Of Ed.

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

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

Unaffiliated petitioning candidate Jaclyn Annette Pioli, 43, is running for Stamford Board of Education.

Occupation: Parent Advocate

Family: Jackie lives in Stamford with her husband, Thurston, two children, Sophia 17 and Thaddeus15 , and a niece 20. She left the banking industry nine years ago to devote full attention to advocating for Thaddeus’ right to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education, which inspired her career change.

Experience: Stamford Board of Education

Family in government: None

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

Redistricting needs our attention.

The effort to maintain a demographic balance in our schools has resulted in ineffective and inefficient distribution of resources. This flawed policy has families sending their children to schools that are far away — many students travel more than 45 minutes on a bus.

Despite this practice, our schools continue to be demographically imbalanced. We have to re-examine this practice and consider bringing our schools back to their communities.

Another important issue is that the allocation of resources and supports is inefficient and ineffective. There is no coherent process for deploying staffing resources to schools that need it.

We operate in a reactionary way, and in constant crisis mode. We need to develop a vision and strategy for addressing the needs of our diverse student body and provide operating practices to ensure that we monitor progress and evaluate all programs and services we bring into our schools. We need more accountability.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

Jackie Pioli will advance creative, classrooms where children are exposed to a rich, broad, and flexible curriculum taught by highly qualified and valued teachers, and where parents are encouraged to become more involved in their children's education.

Jackie will push for budgetary decisions that will create school environments that best encourage learning and provide our educators the tools and supports they need to inspire their students to be the best they can be.

Accomplishments:

Jackie is a 2017 scholar of the Parent Leadership Training Institute and a 2018 graduate of Parent SEE. She developed an educational course, “My Voice Matters, ” to teach parents how to advocate for their children.

Jackie fully participates in her children’s school-sponsored activities. Just before she took her seat on the Stamford Board of Education in 2018, Jackie became one of nine Connecticut citizens to receive a Parental Involvement Recognition Award at the state Capitol. The award honors parent contributions to schools and communities.

In 2018 and again in 2021, Jackie was endorsed by the Stamford Education Association, and our teachers union.

Other issues:

Jackie Pioli this year did not get the Stamford Democratic City Committee nomination for a second term on the Board of Education because, in her first term, she did not fall in with the party line.

Jackie asked a lot of questions, demanded transparency from the board and accountability to Stamford residents. She worked across the aisle with Republicans, which is not celebrated on the local level.

So this year Jackie is running as an unaffiliated candidate on Row 7F: Jaclyn Annette Pioli.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

Jackie works as a Parent Advocate special education families and helping parents navigate the school system, focusing on the social, emotional and academic supports guaranteed by law. She helps ensure that parents exercise their right to participate in the decisions that determine the educational program for their child.

She encourages partnerships between school districts and families that promote respect, trust, and understanding of the child’s needs. She supports the district initiative to provide mental-health services during school hours, and partnerships with United Way, Family Centers, and Child Guidance Centers. Jackie encourages families to use community resources to promote social growth through free play, team-building exercises and structured sports.