Candidate Submitted Bio

Heather was born in Kentucky, but has spent the past 20 years in Connecticut. She graduated from Florida State with a BS in nutrition, received a Culinary Degree from The Institute of Culinary Education and an MS in food science from Washington State. Heather was a personal chef in Fairfield County from 2005-2013, when she became the culinary teacher at Middlebrook in Wilton. In 2014, Heather, her daughters and her husband John, a Middlebrook teacher since 2003, moved to Wilton. In 2021, Heather left teaching to pursue a career in the foods industry where she is an associate principal scientist for a CPG company. Heather feels that her tenure as a teacher in Wilton can provide a unique perspective for the Wilton BOE.

Video Interview

Candidate Submitted Op-Ed

Our daughters started going to preschool school in Wilton while we were still living in Brookfield and I was teaching in the Connecticut technical school system. When I accepted the job at Middlebrook in 2013, John, my husband, had already been teaching here for nearly 10 years. Now I had the opportunity to experience what he had, which is exceptional teachers and schools. It was difficult on two teachers’ salaries, but we set our mind to finding a way to move here because we believed in the magic of Wilton. We were so grateful to find a home, settle here, and become part of the community. We have built amazing friendships and have loved watching our children grow and thrive.

As a teacher in Wilton, I brought to life a Zero Waste program that brought all four schools together to recycle, reuse and remove 2000 pounds of food every week out of landfills. I completely redesigned the curriculum at Middlebrook to go from an outdated “home economics” class to a state-of-the-art-culinary and farm-to-table program.  

During my years at Middlebrook I watched “plug and play” curriculum and non-mandated testing become a large portion of the educational time and spending. I believe that we need to stop cutting programs that benefit our kids and stop outsourcing our learning and start empowering our educators. We need to do this not by cutting the budget, but by using our resources more cost-effectively.

I understand that there is a great deal of complexity and nuance that comes with overseeing a high-performing district like Wilton’s. I believe that my unique insight as an experienced educator and parent in Wilton will help the board better interpret the challenges that we face and enable them to make more informed decisions that benefit all of the students in the district. In addition, as an unaffiliated voter, I want to bring civility back to local, volunteer community boards.  In recent years there has been a lack of trust that has polluted these critical bodies. 

In addition, there has been a lot of attention paid to the potential ethics conflicts that my marriage to a Wilton teacher could cause if I am elected. I want to say that I have been very disappointed by the advertisements and social media posts that are feeding the false suggestion that the BOE would be paralyzed by my participation. This is precisely the kind of partisanship our Board of Education must avoid. The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education dictates that a teacher cannot serve on the Board of Education if employed by that town, but the statute makes clear a spouse may properly serve. Based on this, as well as a thorough evaluation of what the Board of Education actually does and votes on month to month, I am 100% sure any potential conflict is minimal, and manageable. 

Local politics depend on people who care about the good of their community. Anyone who has a child in the schools, owns a business in Wilton, or pays property taxes on their home has an interest in how the town operates.  If we exclude everyone from holding public office who has a vested interest in Wilton, no one would ever run.  

If elected, I promise to encourage an environment on the BOE where we have the humility to learn from previous decisions and acknowledge we all want what is best for our children. Wilton schools have cultivated some of the brightest, most successful students that Connecticut has to offer. I want to be a part of the legacy that continues to provide this district with the guidance needed to navigate an entirely new world of challenges that our students will face.

Video Clips

What is motivating you to run for the Board of Education?

Let’s start off talking about the conflict of interest and what you have to say about it — your own disclosure and the conversation around you and your running mate. People have said it’s going to be a very hard thing for you to put aside — the financial part of your husband’s job and decisions, conversation at the board table. What do you say about that?

What about the district’s Instructional Coaching program and your husband’s on-the-record opposition to it? Including his criticism about Superintendent Smith and BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca, suggesting they should be replaced?

How is the current board doing about transparency?

How do you think the school administration is doing? Reliance on testing and increased computer-based learning, stress for students, etc…

Last year’s budget process, the Annual Town Meeting, the $1.4 million that was cut from the budget proposal, what do you think about that process? What do you think about what happened at the town meeting?

What are some areas in the budget you think should be looked at for savings? Are there areas that can be reallocated or savings found? Is there a need to look at possibly increasing class size? To find savings in FTE reductions?

What about the preliminary school needs assessment report draft report that estimates over the next 10 years at least $100 million worth of upgrades and maintenance issues to to address in the school district?

What about residents who don’t have kids in the schools? Do we need to spend so much on the school budget, thinking about them? Could we be number two and try harder?

Politics has figured so much in this campaign. Can you explain to voters why you were registered as a Democrat and switch to unaffiliated before announcing your campaign? And why run on the Republican ticket? Also, what about the switch from running in the 4 year BOE seat race to the 2 year seat race?

What are your thoughts on the district’s approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Open Choice?

What do you think about parental involvement in the schools, classes, and curriculum? What about parent input on book choice or book banning?

How is the district addressing mental health needs? Last year, during the budget process, one BOF member questioned the number of mental health counselors that the school has, wondering why the community doesn’t take care of its own burden, why the school district needs to bear cost? What do you think about the district’s handling of rising mental health needs of students, and the number of counselors? How are the schools doing in addressing those needs?

What’s your argument for why voters should vote for you?