'Talking up public education' at the Preliminary Budget Hearing in Woodbridge tonight

My public comment to the annual Preliminary Budget Hearing, submitted here for your reading pleasure ;->

Good evening. My Name is Sheila McCreven and I serve as Chairman of the Woodbridge Board of Education.

At this time of year, the WBOE is beginning an overall review process with an eye toward assessing its work over the past year and preparing to revise its goals for the upcoming academic year.

It is through this yearly process that the elected board of ed shapes overall strategy and harnesses the energetic vision of our Superintendent, Dr. Guy Stella, to continuously improve the public education offered the town’s Pre-K through grade six students at Beecher Road School. I’d like to publicly thank Dr. Stella and his team (Chuck, MaryLou, and Carol, who are here with us tonight), as well as all the teachers and other staff who have been so dedicated in their work with our students.

As you probably know, the BOE has three major responsibilities:

• To establish and oversee the school’s budget;


• To evaluate our Superintendent (who then oversees the evaluation of all other school employees);


• And to set official policy, which is then used by the administration to drive various procedures that guide the educational initiatives that benefit the children of Woodbridge.

We are known as a high-performing school district and that reputation helps sustain all our property values.

In looking over the budget process that has led us to tonight’s hearing, I just want to express my appreciation to the spirit of collaboration we have enjoyed this year. I’d like to thank all the members of the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen for their open communication, support, and their efforts to help rebuild trust between our three boards, as we have together created our budget for this year and have begun to turn our eye to long-term facility work.

We are asked some probing questions when we present our budget request, for both Operating and Capital expenses. It is through hearing these questions, and doing our best to provide answers, that we developed this document in your hands tonight. And I want to assure you that we will continue to examine the issues raised, particularly around the ways we can measure the success – and the challenges that remain -- for our school district. We look forward to a continued atmosphere of collaboration between “critical friends.”

And lastly I want to say how much we have appreciated the leadership of both BOF chairman Matt Giglietti and First Selectmen Ed Sheehy in working with our Superintendent and the Woodbridge Board of Education as a whole, in support of excellence in education here in Woodbridge.

Thank you.

I also gave a quick shout out to our own Mrs. White's China Blog -- check it out for photos and narrative from her trip, which follows up on our China Sister School project begun by Dr. Stella last fall. She and Amity Middle School Principal, Dr. Dellinger (who was also a 'bloggin away), together with a contingent of fellow Connecticut educators, are due to arrive home from the trip tonight. This growing partnership is just another example of the 'Golden Age At Beecher' that has returned to our community. Hooray!