"STEP UP or STEP DOWN is not a catchy slogan; it's a call to action through advocacy for ALL of us. The current Killingly Board of Educations Chair (BOE) actions, behaviors, and comments are downright dangerous for our children, staff, and community.  

The BOE's chair's most recent comments and actions at the March 16th BOE meeting were damaging to our students; it has led to a public outcry for her to STEP DOWN (If you have not seen that meeting, watch here: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/killingly-school-board-rejects-mental-health-center-plan/2742414/

Want to take action but not sure how? Here are some options:

1.   Send an email to Brendan@villagernewspapers.com calling on  BOE Chair to Step Down and resign because she is not acting in the best interests of our students. It will be published in the Letter to Editor section of the Killingly Villager newspaper. Include your name, town & phone # (your phone # will not be published) Submission deadline is every Tuesday at noon for Friday's paper.

2.   Please email the Killingly BOE and ask them to think hard about the behaviors and actions of their BOE Chair. Let them know you are watching and won't allow this behavior to continue (can copy/paste email addresses and send one email to all)

jjoly@killinglyschools.org
nferron@killinglyschools.org
jhegedus@killinglyschools.org
slannon@killinglyschools.org
kmartin@killinglyschools.org
jmuscara@killinglyschools.org   
knapierata@killinglyschools.org
lrivera@killinglyschools.org
cviens@killinglyschools.org

3.   Call into the WINY morning talk show to share your thoughts on the BOE Chair. actions, 860-928-1350 Mon-Fri, 9-11 am. Can call once per hour.

4.   Post/share on social media

5.   Word of Mouth-Everyone should know what is happening in their community. 11 towns can send students to Killingly High (Killingly, Brooklyn, Pomfret, Putnam, Thompson, Woodstock, Eastford, Plainfield, Canterbury, Sterling, Voluntown, and Griswold.)

If you were one of the many who saw the Board of Education (BOE) meeting on 3/16/22 or the news coverage on NBC CT, WTNH News 8, or WINY, and heard the horrible comments made by BOE Chair, you'll understand why this petition has been created and why we need to work together as parents and community members to insist that she STEP DOWN and resign from the BOE. 

The BOE Chair's behaviors & comments over the last two months show a pattern of disturbing behavior that she is NOT ACTING IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF OUR STUDENTS.   

She is a teacher (at Ella T. Grasso Tech School).  She is supposed to have the knowledge, compassion, and experience of an adult in the field of education, yet at the March 16th BOE meeting, she accused our children of lying on a mental health survey and crossed every line.  One student who heard her comments (and was one of the 14.7% who responded to the survey and stated thought of hurting and had made a suicide plan) began crying. The student said shouldn't have told anyone of her plan because the BOE did not believe her.  It is alarming that an adult on the BOE would make statements about our students that would inflict even more trauma on top of what they are already experiencing.

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This isn't the first time the BOE Chair has abused power as the BOE chair and made dangerous decisions for our children. Please watch the catalog of BOE meetings since she took over as BOE chair.  She does not listen to facts presented by the Superintendent, who the BOE hired to be the Educational Expert for the District. She constantly rolls eyes and audibly sighs, rudely cuts people off from talking, abuses power to "silence" the students/community and other BOE members, and transfers blame onto others. If you don't have time to watch the hours of videos, we will highlight some from you (all videos can be found here): https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/killingly-high-school-dayville-ct?activity=Meeting&drilldown=on%20demand

2/7/22 SBHC Informational Meeting:  She petitioned to have an outsider, Leanne Ducat as a panelist to speak against the FREE School-Based Mental/Behavioral Health Center (SBHC) at Killingly High. Leanne is not a Killingly community member, nor is she a community member of the 11 surrounding towns that send students to KHS. does not believe in public schools. Leanne is not a mental health expert or professional and has no credentials. None of the "alleged" sources have been validated.

2/9/22 BOE Meeting: .:  She abused power as BOE chair when she added Leanne Ducat to the BOE agenda to speak in opposition to the SBHC. An effective BOE Chair would have asked Generations back, a member of Putnam BOE who has had a successful SBHC for over nine years, or any other professional who could have answered the BOE questions related to SBHC that the BOE stated they needed.

2/23/22 BOE meeting:  

Video from minutes 0:14:00-0:18:00: BOE member Ms. Lannon speaks during public comment to go on record, recalling an event that happened the week before. The BOE Chair had inappropriately pulled her out into the hallway, asked her to put away the phone, and then scolded Ms. Lannon for comments supporting the SBHC at the 2/9/22 BOE meeting.  She tried to intimidate & silence Ms. Lannon by stating, "they will proceed with legal action," for what they felt was rude comments. The BOE Chair went on to say to Ms. Lannon that "they (republicans)" have the majority. These actions attempt to silence any difference of opinion and transfer the blame onto others.

Video minutes 0:43:00-0:45:00:  BOE Chair announces that the BOE is NOT required by law to listen to public comments or read emails. She stated that IF THEY DO READ EMAILS, it is only as a courtesy they (BOE) extend, and in the future, the BOE will be changing the policy to only allow 20 minutes TOTAL for public comment, with no exceptions.  The BOE Chair's excuse is that members of the BOE need to get up for work the following day.  

Video minutes 1:31:00-1:32:00 – Administration is trying to present a topic to the BOE re: recruiting new students/staff by hiring a marketing / PR firm to showcase all the outstanding KPS programs, students, and staff to a broader audience. They invited the Director of the PR firm to come present and answer any questions the BOE had.  The BOE Chair states several times that he is not listed on the agenda (even though PR firm presentation is listed), the BOE Chair wants to move the meeting along (remember, she wants to get home) and does not want to allow the gentlemen to speak. When the BOE chair is overruled, she makes a sour face, sighs, and says, "well, sounds like you will be able to talk." Again, she is trying to abuse power to silence people.

Video 1:46:00-1:48:00, in response to the PR firm's proposal where one line states, "Killingly School System in NE CT has an image problem," the BOE Chairs answer is "I don't think that's a statement I can support," "if they think there's an image challenge, maybe need to sort that out among themselves." Again, transferring blame to others instead of listening to the administration, committees, and staff has concluded there is an image problem leading to the inability to recruit staff and students to fill vacancies in our District.

March 9th BOE meeting:

The BOE Chair did not respond to the outcry by staff, students, parents, mental health professionals & community who want the SBHC approved. The BOE chair had the power to add the SBHC discussion/vote on this agenda but chose not to. The Superintendent put it on his updates, and the BOE Chair placed his updates as the last item on the agenda.  

Video Minute: 0:26:49-0:27:20 – When the allotted 20 minutes for public comment was up, a motion was made by Ms. Lannon to extend public comment to allow the remaining people who signed up to speak to be heard. The BOE Chair comments that she is not in favor before taking a vote where the motion is denied, and yet again, student, parent & community voices are silenced.

Video Minute: 3:04:00-3:12:00 – Discussion around adding 2 Special education teachers for KMS & KCS from general education budget or grant. If you listen to the entire presentation, you will see rude behaviors and dismissing other BOE comments. The BOE Chair is not following meeting protocol to run an organized meeting. The BOE Chair is showing fiscal irresponsibility by "kicking the can down the road," wanting to use grant funding (meant to supplement existing programs for short periods) to pay for salaried positions needed for years to come.

Video Minute 3:48:00 – to end:  by the time the Superintendent got to the SBHC (last thing on the agenda by the design of the BOE ), The BOE Chair was visibly agitated and wanted to end the meeting, so she stated, "make this quick we want to get out of here by 11", she was rude to other BOE members and cut them off as they were trying to ask the Superintendent questions in regards to his updates and left him seconds to present the additional information on the SBHC for the BOE to review.

March 15th:   The Chair and Vice-Chair gave one day's notice to the citizens that they planned to hold a special meeting on 3/16 to discuss/vote on the SBHC.  

March 16th BOE Special meeting:

The only discussion was from the parents/community during public comment at this meeting. Public comment was cut short when the BOE Chair cut off community members after 3 minutes each, although BOE policy states they can speak for 5 minutes each. The BOE Chair and several other members went around the table and scolded the parents and community members who wrote to them in anger about their lack of concern and support for the SBHC.

Despite the many reports, surveys, and factual data presented to the BOE and all the testimony from students, staff, and professionals around the success and benefits of the SBHC, the BOE Chair voted NO to the SBHC.   Not ONCE during these six weeks has she given a clear explanation as to why she is voting NO. Not ONCE have we heard her ask a question to the Superintendent or to other professionals about getting more information to make an informed decision. The BOE Chair did not introduce any of the written correspondence received from concerned community members at these BOE meetings as outlined in BOE policy.

The six BOE members, BOE Chair included, ignored the overwhelming majority of our community/students' voices by voting NO on the FREE school-based mental/behavioral health center (SBHC) operated by Generations. Denying our students access to this vital resource and ignoring the pleas of students, parents, staff, mental health professionals, and the majority of our community is NOT acting in the best interest of our students.

Instead of taking the student survey responses seriously, questioned the integrity of the students she was supposed to be acting in the best interest of. Referring to the 14.7% of Killingly students who responded that they had made a suicide plan, the BOE Chair "How do you know they were honest responses? We're dealing with kids. They could have written anything. That's what kids do,". You can hear audible gasps from the parents and students as just called the student's liars.  Watch Video: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/killingly-school-board-rejects-mental-health-center-plan/2742414/

In the few months, she has been BOE Chair, she has made dangerous and negligent decisions. The BOE CHair has a 4-year term; imagine the damage that she could do if she remains in office that long.

More Information:

BOE Responsibilities from CT Association of Boards of Education: https://www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=1485

Killingly Public School Policy on Legal responsibilities of a Board of Education: https://z2policy.cabe.org/cabe/browse/killingly/killingly/z20000411

Full Channel 10 News Clip: 

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/killingly-school-board-rejects-mental-health-center-plan/2742414/