NEWINGTON - A mix of Board of Education incumbents and new members were sworn in last Tuesday night, with the majority on the body shifting over to Republicans.

       Incumbents Josh Schulman, Nancy Petronio, Jane Ancona-Siegel, Robert Tofeldt Sr., Paul Vessella and Sharon Braverman are joined by newcomers Steve Silvia, Emily Guion and Cindy Stamm.

       â€�"There are a good amount of people who have good experience,” said former Board Chair Mark Finkelstein after the ceremony. â€�"And that’s good--they’ll hopefully guide the newcomers.”

       Finkelstein, who was wrapping up his tenure on the Board, has done his fair share of that. He expects the challenges that his Board faced, such as balancing the pursuit of district initiatives with working within budgetary constraints, to continue.

       â€�"It’s always about the budgetary constraints,” Finkelstein said. â€�"It’s the cost of doing business. I think over the years, people have been very supportive of the schools.”

       The last Board worked to lay the groundwork for a district-wide, one-to-one technology device program and complete the construction of two middle school-level STEM academies. The aerospace program opened recently at John Wallace Middle School and Martin Kellogg’s biomedical science academy has been running for more than a year now.

       Looking ahead, the focus will have to be on completing STEM renovations at the high school so that students leaving John Wallace and Martin Kellogg can continue their aerospace and biomedical educations, Finkelstein said.

       â€�"We’re getting there--that is a big priority,” he said.

       Superintendent of Schools Bill Collins has described the high school extension of those programs to be more integrated, in that biomedical students might find themselves collaborating with those in aerospace on some projects.

       New programs at the high school have also included a comprehensive curriculums in information technology/digital innovations, business/finance and culinary/hospitality.

       â€�"I’ve said it time and time again--I still think that the number one reason people move into town is the quality of schools,” Finkelstein said.