By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The Board of Education is working on a policy to allow two Staples High School students to become non-voting members of the panel starting in the 2023-24 school year.

The idea advances a component of the district’s Strategic Plan to provide more leadership opportunities for students.

During a board discussion Monday, the only sticking point for some members was the selection process.

Board member Dorie Hordon thought students selected for the position should have unanimous approval from the seven-member board.

“I am not comfortable with just a majority,” she said. 

Given the board’s current political makeup, Hordon said she didn’t want a four-member Democratic majority on the panel to have control over the choices.

Board Secretary Neil Phillips suggested perhaps the selection could be reached by consensus.

As developed by the board’s policy committee, the plan would be to have a junior and a senior each serving two-year terms. In the initial year, the senior would only serve one year.

The student representatives would sit at the board table. They would be expected to participate in board discussions and make recommendations for board discussion topics.

They would not vote or participate in executive sessions.

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice said the idea is for the board to gain a substantive student voice.

“Not symbolic. Substantive,” Scarice said. “I will be interested to see how it plays out.”

Board member Kevin Christie, who chairs the policy committee, said the plan is for students to apply for the position. They must be in good standing at Staples, commit to regular meeting attendance and complete an application process and interview.

While there already are a variety of ways for students to be heard, Christie called this a big one.

It is also intended as a learning opportunity, with the senior serving a second year helping to orient the newly selected junior each year.

It takes time to fully engage and get comfortable with the system, Christie said.

Hordon said she was disappointed that by allowing students to sit on the board for two years it will limit the number of students who get the opportunity.

She also worried that student attendance might wane.

The policy, as it is currently drafted, would have students confirm in writing they can regularly attend meetings, which in the fall will be on Thursdays.

Phillips suggested the policy provide for alternates or replacements should a student rep not be able to complete the full two-year term.

Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein said unlike student reps in other districts who give reports then leave meetings, the Westport student rep experience will be a meaningful commitment and allow the reps to learn from direct experience how governing bodies function.

That said, board members said they won’t expect students to stay for meetings that go on for hours.

Two members of the audience who commented on the plan during public participation had sharply different views.

Camilo Riano, a parent, said the idea of bringing students onto the board makes no sense.

“You are just doing this to feel good,” Riano said. “An attempt to say we are listening to students. It’s ridiculous. It’s not serious.”

Michele Carey-Moody, co-president of the Staples PTA, called it a great idea to include students on the board.

“It will be enriching for them,” she said, particularly students who don’t have other outside activities and who can make the commitment. 

Carey-Moody also liked that the two-year terms would be staggered. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Christie said the draft policy will go back to the committee for more work. The idea is to have a policy the board can vote on before the new school year starts so the first two students can join the board in the fall.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.