Charter panel presses schools chief on board vacancy rules

Other Committee · Meeting of January 14, 2026

New Canaan charter panel flags a legal conflict over how fast school board vacancies must be filled. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Losi told the Charter Review Commission's "group one" subcommittee that the charter's 90-day window for the Board of Education to fill a vacant seat clashes with a state statute allowing only 30 days, after which the first selectman could make the appointment instead.

Losi said the district's attorneys advised following the 30-day rule during a recent vacancy despite the charter's longer deadline. The panel also debated draft language comparing elected and appointed boards, with Commissioner Joe warning the document was "beginning to adjudicate the case" in favor of appointments, while Commissioner Angela said she "tried to draft this so that it is neutral in tone." Data discussed showed roughly 75 percent of New Canaan's boards and commissions are appointed rather than elected.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 850 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of January 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

NEW CANAAN — January 14, 2026 — A subcommittee of the New Canaan Charter Review Commission met Wednesday with the district's superintendent of schools and identified a conflict between the town charter and state law governing how quickly a vacant Board of Education seat must be filled, then spent the rest of the two-hour session sparring over draft language comparing elected and appointed town boards.

The panel, known as "group one" of the Charter Review Commission, took no votes on substantive charter language at the meeting. It approved the minutes of its prior session and a motion to adjourn, both by unanimous voice vote. The bulk of the discussion centered on a line-by-line edit of a draft memo meant to help the commission's full membership weigh whether individual boards and commissions should be elected or appointed.

The Full Story

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Losi, whose name the meeting's acting coordinator was careful to confirm before the session began, joined the subcommittee to discuss how the town charter interacts with the school district. He told commissioners the charter's current 90-day window for the Board of Education to fill a vacancy conflicts with a state statute that allows only 30 days before the first selectman gains authority to make the appointment instead. Losi said the district's attorneys advised him to follow the 30-day state rule during a recent vacancy, even though the charter and the Board of Education's own bylaws still say 90.

"The statute doesn't provide any discretion for either the town or the board to have a different number," Losi told the panel, adding that Shipman & Goodwin, the district's outside counsel, had concluded the town would likely lose any legal challenge to the longer window.

Commissioners Steve Casease and others said the discrepancy should be corrected, though several noted the fix may ultimately fall to the Town Council rather than the Charter Review Commission alone. Losi also told the panel he favors New Canaan's current structure of a nine-member, four-year-term Board of Education with no term limits, saying shorter terms elsewhere make it harder for members to master school budgets and curriculum. He said the board waives a bylaw limiting its chair to a two-year term "from time to time when it makes sense," citing former chair Diana as an example.

Losi also detailed how the district accounts for roughly $500,000 to $600,000 in annual donations, including about $200,000 from an athletic booster club, all of which flow through a board-approved donation fund and are audited yearly. Donations over $5,000 require formal Board of Education approval, he said. He distinguished those funds from the independently governed New Canaan Scholarship Association, a separate 501(c)(3) that is audited on its own but does not report to the Board of Education.

The second half of the meeting turned to a draft comparison of elected versus appointed boards intended for the commission's full membership. Commissioner Angela, who authored the draft, and Commissioner Joe disagreed repeatedly over both specific wording and whether the document had drifted from a general framework into New Canaan-specific advocacy. Joe argued the draft's list of "pros" was weighted seven to three in favor of appointed boards and pressed to soften data showing roughly 75 percent of New Canaan boards and commissions are appointed rather than elected.

"I think we're beginning to adjudicate the case, and I think prematurely," Joe said of the draft's direction.

Angela defended her approach while agreeing to revisions line by line. "I tried to draft this so that it is neutral in tone," she said. "It's not taking a perspective on whether a specific board or commission should be elected or appointed."

The subcommittee reached consensus on several sentences, including language stating elected officials are "directly accountable to the electorate" while appointed officials are "accountable by the elected officials who appoint them," and a new point on public vetting of candidates. It did not reach the draft's "cons of election" section or a separate review of Article One of the charter, both pushed to the panel's next meeting.

Why It Matters

New Canaan overhauls its town charter roughly once a decade, and the document under discussion will help the commission's full membership decide whether to recommend changing how boards such as the Board of Finance or Town Council are seated. The subcommittee's finding on the 90-day-versus-30-day vacancy rule flags a real legal gap: if the Board of Education takes longer than 30 days to fill an open seat, the first selectman could claim the authority to do so under the winning statute, a scenario Losi said has caused confusion in neighboring districts. Any fix likely requires action from the Town Council. The subcommittee reconvenes January 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Conference Room B; the full Charter Review Commission was also referenced as meeting around January 20.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Approval of prior meeting's minutes, as amended Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Motion to adjourn Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Town Of New Canaan: New Canaan Charter Review Commission (Group One) meeting, January 14, 2026