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GUILFORD — The Independent Party of Connecticut has endorsed five candidates, including two Democrats, for the Board of Education, in an effort to sidestep rules that would guarantee at least some members of a slate of Republican candidates affiliated with Truth in Education would be seated after the November elections.
The group, which says it is opposed to the teaching of Critical Race Theory, ousted incumbent Republican board members in local party caucuses held last month.
Bill Bloss, a lawyer who has represented Connecticut’s Independent Party and a 20-year Democratic member of the Board of Education, told CT Examiner that he believed that the majority of the town would not be in support of the Republican candidates.
“They think that Marxism is being taught in our schools, and that is simply false,” said Bloss, who was chair of the district’s Board of Education for 14 years of his 20-year tenure, “The positions that they are taking in terms of what is taught in our schools is simply not true.”
The three Independent Party candidates are Kristy Faulkner, Noel Petra and Jennifer Baldwin. Faulkner is a molecular biologist, Petra is the current Deputy Commissioner of Real Estate and Construction for the State of Connecticut, and Baldwin is a public defender.
The Independents are also endorsing Democrats Moira Rader, an incumbent, and newcomer Arnold Skretta, an attorney.
In a statement, the Independent Party said that their candidates are meant to give voters the opportunity to vote for “mainstream, pro-education” candidates. Their slate is called “Protect Guilford Schools.”