Student Ed Board Candidates Make Their Case

Martin Clark is campaigning hard on two issues: smart boards, and smart sex.

If he is one of the first student representatives elected to the Board of Education (BOE), he told a crowd of voters Tuesday, that’s where he’ll put his focus.

Clark (pictured in the photo above on the far left) was one of six candidates who made their case and fielded questions Tuesday about why they should be elected to represent students all over the district on the newly created hybrid BOE.

Thanks to a 2013 citywide charter revision referendum, the city’s eight-member Board of Ed is going from being a mayoral-elected body to a hybrid board, with four mayoral appointees, two members elected by the public and two non-voting student members. One rising junior and one rising senior will serve on the board.

With just a couple of weeks until the June 4 student elections, the candidates — two rising juniors and four rising seniors — got to tell those gathered at Conte-West Hills School why they want to represent their fellow students.

Clark, a rising junior at Wilbur Cross, said the school district spends millions on advanced technology such as smart boards, but many teachers ​“have no idea how to use what we have.” He said technology is an area where students should lead their teachers. When it comes to sex ed, students should be properly educated so that they could be ​“informed about their bodies and sexually healthy.”

Candidate Coral Ortiz (pictured), a rising junior at Hillhouse High School, has her focus on effective communication and building trust between school administrators, city officials and students.

Ortiz said that many of the district’s policies ​“are imposed on us without any say.” She said if she is elected she would work to make sure that students could have an avenue for expressing their opinions to the board on policy, but also make sure that things are better explained to students.

Delilah Quezada said if she’s elected to the BOE she plans to be a voice for students, particularly when it comes to the district’s role in helping connect students to post-secondary education and funding. ​“There is a difference in getting accepted and leaving without debt,” said Quezada, a rising senior at Metropolitan Business Academy.

More school nurses, alternatives to college and more sports and art opportunities for students are high on Sound School rising senior Kimberly Sullivan’s list of topic issues. She said there is a lot of pressure to go to college after high school, but not every student is interested in taking that route. ​“I’d like to see schools promote other post-secondary options,” said Sullivan.

Caroline Ricardo said if she is elected to the BOE she will focus in on students who are more than students. The rising senior at High School in the Community said she wants to be a voice for students for whom school isn’t their first priority because they play important roles in their families. ​“I want to promote empathy … for students who don’t have support,” she said. ​“I want people to understand the reality of ELL (English language learners).”

On Wednesday she sent in this write-up about her candidacy and her ELL (English-Language Learner) experiences in New Haven schools.

Jesus Garzon (pictured), a rising senior at Metropolitan Academy, spoke about discipline. ​“I’ve seen disciplinary issues dealt with accordingly in some cases, and not in others,” he said. He also wants to be a voice for reminding the adults on the BOE making decisions that students are individuals. ​“We are creative beings,” he said. And there should be concern ​“for the growth of us as individuals.”

The election will be held in all New Haven public schools, and is open to all the city’s public high school students in grades 9 to 12. To learn more about the candidates, visit the district’s student election page here.