To the Editor:

Deborra Zukowski (Deb Z.) is a write-in candidate for Newtown Board of Education. She is worthy of your support. I strongly encourage you to cast your ballot for her on November 7 by writing her name in the appropriate column. I have had three significant and long-term interactions with Deb, each time being impressed by her intelligence, her work ethic, her problem-solving skills, and her commitment to find the right and best outcomes.

In 2004, the first of these collaborations Deborra worked with me, the interim principal of Newtown High School, and with guidance counselors to revamp and revise the school's grade point ranking system. This was a difficult initiative, fraught with concerns for tradition and the recognition of academic excellence. Deborra, as the parent of two academically successful students, was a calming voice in the effort, an informed voice of reason that guided us carefully and accurately with well-thought-out understandings and solid data.

I called on Deb later to serve on the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee. Her contributions in these many months of meetings and work products were outstanding in quality, effort, outreach, and outcomes. That review process and Deborra's leadership set a standard for future assessments of the master plan. Most recently Deborra served on the Charter Review Commission, again bringing to the effort an extraordinary work ethic and persistent pursuit of accurate and meaningful data.

Through each of these initiatives, Deb demonstrated a consistent focus on her work as service to students, parents, community. Deb Z. is a consummate public servant, only seeking to benefit the community she serves. For BOE, write DEB Z. in square 14D (and don't forget to color in the oval!).

E. Patricia Llodra, First Selectman

3 Primrose Street, Newtown         October 23, 2017