Editor’s note: following is an opinion submitted by Westport resident David Kershner.
I am writing in support of Andy Frankel, Michelle Hopson, Dorie Hordon, and Kaitlin Zucaro for Westport (WPS) Board of Education (BOE). As a Westport resident and unaffiliated voter, my vote is up for grabs, and during this election cycle, the Republican candidates’ backgrounds and message has resonated with me.
Almost a decade ago, I moved to Westport with my family from across the country. One primary selling point was the excellent school system in which our young children (5 at the time) were going to learn and grow.
In 2021 we reluctantly took our children out of WPS because what we saw was not the building of a foundation in core education (math, science, language, history), but many distractions: curriculum changes expanding the scope of elementary/secondary education into politics, psychotherapy, and “social” aspects, and wading deeply into costly areas for which the staff and administration were not well equipped. A number of broader community disagreements later consumed even more resources – in my view these metastasized because of these distractions.
But I am optimistic!
I have talked to each of these candidates, and:
- Mr. Frankel, as an active member of TEAM Westport, has demonstrated his commitment to Westport, and has offered a constructive counterpoint that I suspect resonates with many students in WPS, and which will lend itself to focusing the district back towards core learning and activities that attracted many of us to Westport.
- Ms. Hopson has a strong proven track record in education as a teacher, administrator, and leader. She has overseen complex budgeting as a non-profit CFO. She has concrete plans to guide the administration on how to best prepare students for the real world and keep our district ahead of the curve on science, technology, and extra-curriculars.
- Ms. Hordon, as a current BOE member, has often fought (many times with no more than one or two allies) to repurpose the district back towards its sound educational and extracurricular excellence, remove the distractions, and tend to the best interests of all the students.
- Ms. Zucaro is a parent to three elementary school children, and recognizes that strong foundations of education begin early, and carry through high school and beyond. Her strong support for excellent WPS teachers gives recognition where it is due to the professionals who will prepare our students, and will be essential as a BOE member.
With strong oversight, WPS will reestablish focus on educating and expanding opportunities for our children, avoid unnecessary distractions, and be excellent. My hope is that my children may in a few years be Staples grads. I believe that will happen with Frankel, Hopson, Hordon, and Zucaro on the BOE.
David Kershner
Ridge Drive
Westport
My husband and I moved to Westport two years ago and originally decided to send our two children to a private school, partly because of what we heard about the increasing politicization of education in the town and a excessive focus on ideas like social-emotional learning and restorative justice. We also read that the district engaged with an NYU study which we thought, as a mixed race gay couple, was more about indoctrination than education. I know personally two of the candidates, Dorie Hordon and Andy Frankel, and I find them both incredibly intelligent, decent, centered people looking to restore the school district to its true purpose, academic excellence, innovation and merit. Let’s do what works and support the Republican BOE slate.