BOE adds 2 members

TORRINGTON — Two new members were appointed to the Board of Education Wednesday night by a unanimous vote, to fill the seats of a Democrat and a Republican who resigned.

Gary Eucalitto was nominated by the Democratic Town Committee, while the Republican Town Committee chose Cathleen M. Todor to represent its constituents.

Eucalitto was sworn into office as the first order of business. Todor was out of town and did not attend the meeting.

Eucalitto is an alumnus of Torrington High School and received an MBA from New York University. He changed party membership in June from the GOP to the Democratic party.

Todor is a former principal of the Torringford School.

The two new members join Jessica Richardson as the third board member to be nominated, rather than elected, to the vacant seat.

Neither of the two newly appointed members could be reached for comment on Thursday.

In other school board actions, Susan M. Lubomski, interim superintendent of schools, announced that the district had received, for the first time, a $25,000 grant from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity program.

The funding will help the school district and city provide internships for students ages 16 to 21. “It’s a post-secondary model,” Lubomski told the board.

District grant writer Donna Labbe said the city is one of about 10 municipalities in the state to receive the funding. Those selected for the program will receive stipends, she said, to earn wages and work in local businesses.

The grant will provide workplace opportunities for 41 students until December 2019, Labbe noted.

“We are very excited to offer students real world job experiences that will hopefully lead to more permanent employment,” Lubomski wrote in a statement on Thursday.

“These internships will help the students better understand the skills they will need to be job ready as well as the types of opportunities they want to pursue in the future,” Lubomski said.

The agenda item that likely brought most of the audience members to the meeting was the recognition ceremony for the “Teacher of the Year” award.

The recognitions are particularly important to the recipients because they are nominated by their peers.

The District Teacher of the Year is Leanne Maguire from Torrington Middle School. The ParaEducator of the Year is Diane Pekrul of Torrington High School.

Members of the custodial staff were also recognized by the superintendent for “getting the schools ready in a timely way. Many buildings are not air conditioned and it was the most humid summer on record,” Lubomski said.

The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Torrington High School,

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media Gary Eucalitto is sworn in as a nominated Democratic member of the Board of Education on Wednesday.