Editor’s note: following is an opinion submitted by Westport resident and Board of Finance member Richard Hightower

I am writing to endorse Dorie Hordon, Michelle Hopson, Andy Frankel, and Kaitlin Zucaro for Westport’s Board of Education.

In serving on Westport’s Board of Finance for the last two years, I have collaborated with our colleagues on the BOE in several areas, and I have grown to appreciate much more fully that combination of skills, competencies, and personal qualities which make for an effective Board member, and moreover an effective Board.

This slate of candidates has these, in spades.  In my assessment, Westport deserves a Board of Education that:

• Possesses serious financial acumen.  The Board of Ed’s annual budget tops $150 million and, as many of us know, constitutes the majority of the Town’s annual spending obligations.  That tidy headline figure, however, belies the complexity of funding a school system that each day affects more than 5,000 students (plus their families), nearly 1,000 combined teachers and staff, and other citizens of our Town.  While it is true that the Administration, led by the Superintendent, is in many ways the “first mover” with respect to personnel decisions, collective bargaining agreements, facilities management, capital planning, health insurance, technology investments, and other budget items, an effective Board – to whom the Administration ultimately answers – requires deep collective expertise in these areas as well.  No less importantly, an effective Board also knows when to push back, in the name of properly stewarding the taxpayers’ resources.

• Upholds academic excellence.  Westport needs a “first things, first” approach to curriculum and classroom instruction.  No unnecessary distractions.  No faddish pedagogies.  No personal pet projects.  Our schools should guide students toward mastering the basics, thinking critically, growing intellectually, and developing the ability to adapt to change.  An effective Board ensures that our academic standards do not slip or suffer due to focus on the wrong things.

• Leaves politics at the door.  We live in interesting times.  All the while, it is completely inappropriate for politics to infiltrate the four walls of our public schools.  Those activities should be saved for off-campus, the dinner table, or somewhere else.  An effective Board of Ed knows how to set and reinforce such boundaries.

My wife and I have three children currently attending Westport public schools.  We care deeply about their education.  Every candidate mentioned has at least one current student in WPS; other BOE candidates can’t say that.

I know well, or have gotten to know, each of Dorie, Michelle, Andy, and Kaitlin.  I would trust them with my children.  Each is an outstanding candidate individually, and collectively, these four have the experience, competence, and unity of purpose that is aimed toward a singular goal:  The flourishing of every WPS student.  Please join me in voting for all four!

Rich Hightower
Member, Board of Finance
Westport