Students May Petition Way To School Board

High-school students wanting to serve on New Haven’s Board of Education would have to petition for signatures from the peers — including from peers at other schools — according to the latest proposal about how to set up new elections.

Yale Alder Sarah Eidelson (pictured) made that proposal at the most recent legislative session focused on the details for New Haven’s move to a partially elected Board of Ed.

She and others on the Board of Alders Legislation Committee held a workshop at City Hall this past Thursday evening on a proposal that has been morphing for months with input from students, administrators and other community members. They discussed the newest version of the ordinance, which left the joint Aldermanic Affairs and Education Committees Nov. 6.

Created in the wake of a 2013 citywide charter revision referendum, the city’s eight-member Board of Ed will become a ​“hybrid” board, with six mayoral appointees, two members elected by the public and two non-voting student members.

A selection committee will solicit applications and choose six students to run in the elections. Students will then vote in two of the six to serve for a two-year term after their sophomore years.

How students make it to that selection committee has remained an open question.

Eidelson recommended that the student election process mirror the alder election process, with students petitioning to get on the ballot, forcing them to meet peers from different schools.

Students could be required to collect 30 signatures, including 20 from their own school and 10 from other schools, suggested East Rock Alder Jessica Homes.

Requiring candidates to petition could also work to control the number of students running for the position, said Wooster Square Alder Aaron Greenberg.

The alders didn’t vote on any recommendations at the workshop. The discussion is to be continued.

GPA DIscounted

The current draft ordinance would create a student-selection committee that includes chairs of the Board of Alders Education and Youth Services committees, two Board of Alders-elected community leaders, two Board of Ed members and one member of Mayor Toni Harp’s staff.

Superintendent Garth Harries asked to convert one of the Board of Ed positions to the ​“Superintendent of Schools or the Superintendent’s designee,” to allow him the option of choosing a student to take his place. Eidelson, the chair of the Youth Services Committee, said she also wants the option of choosing a student ​“designee” to sit on the selection committee.

The terms of the two representatives are staggered, meaning one junior and one senior would need to serve for the initial term, Board of Ed President Carlos Torre argued. The Nov. 6 draft stated that just one student — a junior — will serve for the first term, due to confusion about how to interpret the charter.

“If we have a rising senior and rising junior, the rising senior would be out in one year,” he said. ​“They need mutual support, not one student with a group of adults. We would like to have both students in at the same time.”

Alder Holmes, chair of the Legislation Committee, agreed there would be ​“no issue” with allowing a senior to serve one year this first term, ​“with the understanding that in the long run, it will be a two-year term.”

A major debate throughout the process has been whether to use academic standing as a factor to choose a representative. Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola has adamantly opposed eligibility requirements throughout the months-long discussion.

And student leaders agreed that poor grades shouldn’t bar a peer from running for the position.

Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Santana and Greenberg, heads of the Aldermanic Affairs and Education committees, said they had expected the selection committee to decide the eligibility requirements.

Eidelson suggested the ordinance include a statement preventing the selection committee from rejecting a student based on academic performance.

Deadline Looms

The Legislation Committee Thursday also discussed the process for the public election of the two voting members of the Board of Ed. At a past meeting, Greenberg and Santana unveiled a map of the city’s wards divided into two districts, which has since been revised in committee after concerns about the racial makeup of each. For example, District 1 had more than twice the number of ​“Hispanic” people than the second.

In the newest version, District 1 consists of Wards 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26. One representative will be chosen from each district, with staggered terms of two and four years. District 2 members will begin with four-year terms, which was decided by a coin toss.

Both will be elected in the 2015 municipal election and start serving Jan. 1, 2016.

Alders Thursday night debated future steps. Though the charter recommends they approve the ordinance before Jan. 1, the board meets only once before then, meaning it cannot manage the necessary two rounds of votes unless its calls a special meeting, Holmes explained.

Upper Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen insisted that alders talk with Board of Alders President Jorge Perez to consider holding a special meeting, ensuring they follow the charter.