Name: Jeffrey Fulchino
Political Party: Republican
Running for: Board of Education
Political experience: Incumbent candidate for the Board of Education, serves on the Curriculum Council, previously served on the Conservation Commission
Education: BA from The University of Connecticut
Work experience: Realtor
Family: A town resident since 2008, married to wife, Kerry, with three children, who all attend Monroe schools: Connor, 13, Clare, 10, and Catherine, 8.
What is an issue affecting the town that you care about most and want to make a priority? How will it guide your decision making?
An issue affecting Monroe that I want to make a priority is proper planning for our growing school enrollment.
Monroe is an amazing town with an outstanding school system and, when compared to other Fairfield county towns, Monroe offers residents a tremendous value. For that reason combined with the pandemic, when suburban areas outside large metropolitan cities experienced significant growth, we have become an ideal landing spot for families with school aged children.
When I look back on my years as a Monroe Board of Education member, in June 2019, we ended the year with 3,060 students enrolled. Now, as of October 1, 2021, our current enrollment is 3,334 students. That’s an increase of 274 students or 8 percent in just over 2 years with the bulk of the new enrollment at our elementary schools.
A fast paced enrollment increase can result in challenges to properly anticipate costs as we budget for the years ahead, while still meeting the highest standards for our students, staff and parents.
My focus, once re-elected, will be to ensure we take a collaborative approach with all stakeholders as we continue to provide our students with a safe, well rounded educational experience while being fiscally responsible with our taxpayers money.
