Haddam-Killingworth BOE Candidates Sound Off

The motivation to serve on a local board of education is almost always, “to give back to the community.” Distinguishing factors, however, became apparent amongst the ten candidates who appeared at the HKMS Media Center for a public Q&A forum last Tuesday evening.

During the course of the evening, Mrs. Houlton, the moderator, asked candidates to comment on their awareness of the issue of accountability and rising costs associated with special education and how that impacts the school district budget’s numbers, as each district is responsible for the education of students with exceptionalities. Additionally, there was also mention of special programs for the gifted and talented student population.

Numerous residents gathered to meet the candidates:

Sue Twachtman: Sue Twachtman grew up in Glastonbury and now lives in Haddam along with her family that includes two children who attend H-K schools. A former elementary school teacher, Twachtman is a graduate of SCSU and CCSU who volunteers in her children’s school, her church and on various town committees. Her experience in education and her desire to serve on the Board of Education would be “a pleasure and an honor.”

Keith Doucette: Keith Doucette of Haddam is really interested in learning more about what decisions affect education and the town. He’s running for the board to gain more insight and experience and brings to the table an open mind and eagerness. If he doesn’t make the cut this time around, he’ll attend BOE meetings anyway, out of curiosity, he says.

Walter Bragoni: Higganum’s Walter Bragoni is also a new candidate for the RSD 17 BOE. His family has lived in the area for ten years and his two children attend HKMS. His wife, Joan, grew up in town and attended schools in the district. His two-year experience as a RSD 17 bus driver helped him to get to know students and parents in the district. He’s “open indeed and willing to learn new things” and would bring “a positive attitude to the board.”

Dan Chase: Taking a scientific and quantitative approach overall, candidate Dan Chase comes to the table with ample academic credentials like a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He is a professor of Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts. Residing in Haddam with his family, including two children in H-K schools, Chase is a member of several committees at UMass and he believes that committee work will serve him well on the board. Chase hopes to use his skills in “teaching, curricula development, and grant writing to help build a school district that will provide our children with a high quality of education.”

Mark Almeida: BOE veteran Mark Almeida has lived in Higganum/Haddam for twenty years and has served on the board for the past eight years. Almeida serves as an active member of multiple sub-committees on the board: Finance, Audit, Transportation, Policy, Personnel, MS Building, Solar/Alternative Energies and as Board Treasurer. Of all the accomplishments in his eight-year tenure, he is proudest of the district’s people and their “unique ability to foster and create a sense of community at all of our schools.”

Amy Jacques-Purdy: Balancing the needs of the students with the needs of the community and keeping taxpayers happy is the main job of the board, and two-term veteran Amy Jacques-Purdy is also hoping for a third term. She believes in the leadership and administration of the district, along with the staff. She has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and a B.S. in Secondary Social Studies Education. Jacques-Purdy has two students in the H-K schools and is a taxpayer, so she well understands that balance.

Students of the 21^st century will need to “critically think and work collaboratively,” according to Jacques-Purdy; a statement all heartily concurred on.

James Lippert: Killingworth resident and BOE incumbent James (Jim) Lippert is a retired audit partner (Ernst & Young NYC) and professor of auditing at CUNY (City University of New York). His wife is a former K-12 teacher and counselor with a 6^th year degree. He jokes the reason he’s on the board because “my wife made me do it,” but his obvious passion to serve on the board as the unofficial budget watchdog proves his true motivation. In Lippert’s own words: “My mission is to offer our children the best education possible at reasonable costs to our taxpayers.”

Peggie Bushey: New Killingworth candidate, Peggie Bushey, brings her strength “of wisdom, having brought three kids through the K-12 education system.” Bushey was active in the Manchester, CT school system, monitoring the curriculum; she also “sat on the board to rewrite the Health Education curriculum.” She’d like to serve on the RSD 17 BOE because she’d like to see students in H-K “get a quality education and have a positive educational experience in school from kindergarten through graduation.”

During the meeting, Bushey opined, “I don’t think that a quality education equates with money. You an make education work with innovation and it would help teachers with their hard jobs if so many mandates weren’t thrown at them.” 

Karen Perry: Another Killingworth new candidate to the board, Karen Perry, moved to town with her husband eleven years ago and is the mother of four. She practiced law for 15 years, during which time she served as Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer of the Environmental Section of the CT Bar Association. A ten-year member of the Killingworth Republican town committee, she served as its treasurer for more than six years. The only candidate who made a point to thank the board for doing a great job, Perry vows, if elected, to “facilitate policy changes needed to improve our schools. I will use my background as an attorney to help the BOE overcome challenges that impede improvement.”

Joel D’Angelo: New Killingworth candidate Joel D’Angelo’s experience in public education extends to his entire family: “All members of my immediate family and many of my extended family are/were teachers and administrators” – albeit in the Southington school system (D’Angelo originally hails from Southington but has lived with his family in Killingworth since 2008). With his Ph.D. in Biology, D’Angelo became an administrator and teacher at the Hopkins School in New Haven. If elected, he brings a variety of strengths to the board based on his experience as a teacher and administrator: “My education and career in education gives me a clear understanding of the educational needs of a school system.”

Ultimately, D’Angelo, like all candidates running for the H-K BOE, believes, “A challenge this board will face is to seek excellence in education by raising standards while also checking the growth of our school budget to operate efficiently and economically.”