Maya McFadden Photo
NHFT President Leslie Blatteau and Vice President Jenny Graves re-elected for another term.
Leslie Blatteau has officially won a second three-year term as the president of the teachers union — after running in an uncontested election conducted entirely by email, except for a single paper ballot.
Election polls closed Tuesday at 4 p.m. The ballot count, conducted by MK Elections, took a half-hour and union membership were notified of the final result by Tuesday evening.
One-term incumbent Blatteau ran an uncontested race for president alongside Executive Vice President Jenny Graves, Treasurer Joe Gonzalez, and Executive Secretary Mia Comulada Breuler.
New executive board members will be sworn in in January.
This year’s election was the first time the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) has used electronic voting — and only one voter ended up casting a paper ballot.
A total of 613 teachers union members voted in the election, making for a 35 percent turnout. That total number of ballots cast is 200 less voters than the last election three years ago, when Blatteau ran for the first time and defeated then-incumbent President Dave Cicarella.
Graves and Blatteau described the electronic voting process as streamlined. With paper ballots, past election counts could take over an hour, Graves said.
Blatteau told the Independent Tuesday that she’s excited for the energy the newly elected team will bring to the union leadership for the next three years. Next, she said, the union will work on its contract campaigning ahead of contract negotiations next fall.
For her second term, Blatteau emphasized her priority to continue the local, state, and federal fight for fully funded, democratically-run schools. She’s also going to continue to make sure teachers’, students’, and caregivers’ voices are heard. Earlier on Tuesday, Blatteau and several union leads attended a town hall in Hartford hosted by CT For All to discuss the state’s fiscal roadblocks with legislators.
Her school-specific focuses are pushing for improved building facilities, better use of professional learning time, the involvement of teachers in decision-making processes, and more support for the district’s special-education and multilingual-learner students.
She also noted that in her next term, she wants to encourage the school district to recommit to restorative practice efforts and rebuild the school community’s “eroding trust.”
Blatteau also said that a future concern that is “bubbling up” include a possible shift of what being a public school teacher in New Haven will look like next year under President-elect Donald Trump. The union plans to prepare to work with the school district to make New Haven’s communities feel safe, she said.
Election Results
Below are the candidates who won Tuesday’s 2024 NHFT Executive Board election. Candidates listed as challengers did not win their races.
Vice President of High Schools: David Low (Uncontested)
Vice President of Middle Schools: Da’Jhon Jett (Uncontested)
Vice President of Elementary Schools: Iris Festa (Uncontested)
Vice President of Special Education Services: Ryan Plourde (Uncontested)
Executive Board Members for High Schools: Carrie Smith, Rose Murphy, and Al Meadows (Uncontested)
Executive Board Members for PreK‑8: Charlene Neal-Palmer, David Weinreb, Michael Soares, Cindy Heiter, Robynee Williams, Judith Leach, and Timothy Shortt
Challengers: Delores Marshall (152 votes / 6.67 percent) and Alexander Oji (127 votes / 5.57 percent)
Executive Board Member for Special Education: Christopher Latka (278 votes / 59.02 percent)
Challenger: Jane Roth (193 votes / 40.98 percent)
Executive Board Member for Specials, Enrichment, and Unified Arts: Melody Gallagher (425 votes / 82.05 percent)
Challenger: Steven Fasano (93 votes / 17.95 percent)
Trustees: Michael Pavano, Ashley Stockton, Rachele Thomas, Erin Michaud, and Zania Collier
Delegates: Stephanie White, Zania Collier, Joseph Gonzalez, Jenny Graves, Marco Cenabre, Fana Hickinson, Alexander Oji, Melody Gallagher, Rachele Thomas, Allan Solis, Al Meadows, Judith Leach, Christopher Latka, Charlene Neal-Palmer, and Scott Meikle
Challengers: Delores Marshall (155 votes / 3.62 percent), Kerry Hayes (148 votes / 3.46 percent), and Steven Fasano (136 votes / 3.18 percent)