Former Stamford Board of Education Vice-President Versha Munshi-South recently expressed her disdain toward the citizens of Stamford and the Stamford Education Association (SEA) for continuing to speak out for necessary change in our schools. She stated that “a small number of individuals have come to dominate public comment and civic discourse”, as they “increasingly shape the public narrative and, at times, the policy conversation.” What she failed to mention is the even smaller number of Board of Education members, herself included, that not only failed to follow and enforce their own policies, but actively resisted a public outcry for the same, resulting in failed school leadership, policies and schedules.
For Ms. Munshi-South to claim that “elected officials do want to hear from the community” and that they “make better decisions when they receive thoughtful input from a wide range of residents” is to deny the events of past years, especially those in 2025. She and some of her fellow Board members consistently ignored the pleas and frustration of parents, students and teachers who repeatedly spoke at Board of Education meetings on a number of issues impacting our schools, all of which emanated from the failed leadership of our current superintendent and her administrative cabinet. She instead refers to us as “belligerent and monotonous” to listen to, making it “easier for officials to tune out”. As a former elected official and steward of our public schools, this is a profoundly shameful admission.
For the former Board Vice-President to write that “decisions have been discussed and contested largely among a small group of parents and the Stamford Education Association – groups that have repeatedly and publicly opposed the schedule changes” is to once again highlight the Board’s practice of ignoring the obvious. The SEA represents nearly 1,500 teachers and has the collective expertise and classroom experience from which to oppose a schedule that is detrimental to the education of the children of the Stamford Public Schools. The stakeholders that have loudly and consistently opposed the new 4×4 hybrid high school schedule are parents whose children are immediately impacted by scheduling problems, a ridiculously accelerated pace of curriculum delivery with unrealistic expectations for mastery of content, and lack of continuity in course offerings such as math and science that will surely result in learning gaps.
Ms. Munshi-South’s recent letter in the CT Examiner demonstrates the problem with how some on the Board of Education neglected their responsibilities as elected officials. She acknowledged that “district leaders failed to meaningfully engage stakeholders in the schedule decision”, yet she offers no call for accountability to the community stakeholders by these very school leaders or by the Board, the latter of whom failed to exercise their oversight authority as the employer of the Superintendent. Her complicity is partly to blame for the imposition of a schedule that has been nothing short of disastrous.
Ms. Munshi-South remains blithely unaware, or perhaps selectively ignorant, to the groundswell of resistance that has taken shape throughout Stamford since the 4×4 hybrid HS schedule was unilaterally created and implemented by district administrators. The community watched and listened as friends and neighbors spoke out, respecting the ridiculously short time slots allotted to speak during public comment at Board of Education meetings while enduring the disrespect of district administrators who sat typing on their computers while never making eye contact with those who came to advocate for their children. These children are impacted each day by decisions made behind closed doors by district administrators without any community collaboration, despite some administrators’ lofty platitudes to the contrary. She fails to acknowledge and recognize that it is not “a small number of individuals that have come to dominate public comment”, but rather thousands who ultimately expressed their frustrations with the Board’s contemptuous attitude toward those they were elected to serve when they cast their votes in the fall.
The results of the Nov. 4th election were not the result of “a small number of individuals that have come to dominate public comment”, but rather a community that is tired of being ignored by board members that have chosen to put party politics above the interests of our students, parents and teachers.
As we begin the new year, the SEA would like to congratulate and welcome our three newly elected Board of Education members Jen Werely, Adam VanderVoort and Kris O’Brien, as well as our new Board President Andy George and Vice President Gabi Koc. We look forward to working with all of you, as well as the entire Stamford Board of Education, and hope that 2026 will be a year of positive change.
John Corcoran
Stamford Education Association President