Jenn Comazzetto

Jenn Comazzetto

School District 22 Trustee candidate

Hi, I am Jenn Comazzetto. 

I have lived in Vernon for 15 of my 38 years. I have always been involved in education in some way and now that my 6-year-old is in school, this is the most involved I can be. 

I feel our children are our most important resource and the more we can educate them the better life will be in the future. 

I care for my grandchildren’s generation and want to give them the best legacy possible.

Questions:
 

Why should voters cast a ballot for you October 20?

I am relentless. I bring an optimistic working together attitude that looks for the best in people and will do what it takes to bring people together and find a perspective where we all can benefit. 

I work well with a team and see the school board as a smaller team within our larger teams of teachers, administrators/support staff, communities and the city of Vernon. 

I encourage everyone to have a voice and let us know what the pain points are. When we know, then we have an opportunity to improve. Feedback is neither positive or negative. It just is.

It’s how we deal with it that makes the difference. I am empowered by feedback as it shows that people are listening and wanting to be engaged. 

I will seek to answer questions and provide some of the rationales behind the answers and not just pass the buck. 

If the current answers don’t suit the situation, then let’s look for a better answer or look to redefine the situation from a different perspective. 

Go team humanity!

2) What is the biggest issue facing the Vernon School District, and as a member of the board of education, how would you work to address this issue?

We need to bring more transparency to the school budgeting process and improve communication with all parts of our education system. 

Teachers and administration need to be supported and heard, parents need to be supported and heard. 

I would move more meetings and topics away from in-camera meetings and work towards more open communication where all sides can feel heard and understood. 

We won’t always agree, but if we try to look at the larger perspective, perhaps we can work towards better understanding of even the hard questions. Bussing, classroom composition, working conditions for teachers, all go towards the education that our children receive. 

By continuing to improve communication and providing education through the media, meeting minutes, town halls and other community forums, we can find a better answer for our collective needs where our teachers are not stressed out or leaving the profession and our children have a better environment for learning.

3)Balancing a budget while providing quality education means sometimes making difficult decisions that affect the lives of young children. Can you provide an example of a time when you were forced to make a difficult decision that affected the lives of many?

Every day we make choices that affect others. I sell auto insurance by profession. I’ve made a conscious choice to take a few extra minutes with those who want to learn more and understand more about the choices we insurance agents constantly provide. That education piece is important for understanding the process. 

I learned management at a call center and realized quickly that when people understand the “why” of a decision, it’s much easier to buy in and work together for the common goal. I also have a background in education and those same principles apply to multiple facets of teaching and communicating with others. 

In most everything I do, the “why” is paramount. 

That perspective can bring about a mountain of change. Sometimes this is a smaller picture, more often it means taking a step back and getting the bigger picture.

Our children are our future and we owe them the best education that we can afford so that they can learn from our past and our mistakes and they can launch us further towards improving humanity and building a bright an amazing future. 

Why should we vote? Because if we don’t then we are letting other choose our future for us.