Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kara Casimiro will serve as interim School Superintendent.

Here's video of the school board's vote.

PUBLIC STATEMENT OF THE DANBURY BOARD OF EDUCATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Michael Seelig - seelim@danbury.k12.ct.us

Danbury, CT - January 26, 2024 Mr. Kevin Walston, Superintendent of the Danbury Public Schools, has decided to resign from his position for personal reasons. The Danbury Board of Education supports Mr. Walston’s decision and wishes him well as he takes the time necessary to address his personal issues. Mr. Walston will remain on leave through June 30, 2024, and the Board of Education has accepted Mr. Walston’s resignation, effective that date. The Board thanks Mr. Walston for his leadership of the Danbury Public Schools, and it wishes him every success for the future.

Given Mr. Walston’s decision, the Board has appointed Dr. Kara Casimiro to serve as interim superintendent for the time being. The Board appreciates Dr. Casimiro’s willingness to serve the district in this capacity, and the Board wishes to assure the public that the Board and the Administration will continue their work together on behalf of the Danbury Public Schools community.

Here's what happened last night.

After a 100-minute Executive Session to discuss School Superintendent Kevin Walston's personal leave request, the school board made the following motion:

"The Danbury Board of Education has been notified of Mr. Walston's decision to take personal leave, and the board recognizes the need for Mr. Walston to take time to address his personal issues.

In the intern, the board of education will be exercising its due diligence to ensure that the interests of the Danbury public schools are safeguarded."

Rumors are circulating about the nature of Walston's leave request, and at this point, for legal reasons, I'm not comfortable going public with any unverified information.

Given the length of the executive session and the motion's language, the public deserves answers regarding the Superintendent's temporary leave from office.

Here's video footage of the reading and acceptance of the motion (courtesy of Hatters TV:

As the next session of the General Assembly is set to begin soon, State Rep. Chaleski announced that she will push for funding for a charter school in the city.

The state approved the charter school in 2018 but has had its funding denied by the city's Democratic state delegation, led by State Senator Julie Kushner and State Reps. Bob Godfrey and Farley Santos contend that funding for education should be directed towards public schools.

The topic of the charter school has been a contentious issue in the city for several years, and yesterday's press conference clearly indicates that the establishment of a charter school in the seventh-largest city in the state will continue throughout the election year.

In the following clip, Councilperson Robinson correctly highlights the school system's use of COVID relief money for operating expenses. The expiration of the funds is now the main driver behind the largest education budget increase in the history of the city (29.8 million).

The following exchange requires viewing for those who really want to understand how the city is now facing a budgetary crisis, which could result in residents receiving a hefty tax increase.

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