Cheshire Election 2025: Jason Pinkus Running For Board Of Education

CHESHIRE, CT — The 2025 municipal election is heating up in Cheshire with plenty of races on the ballot.

Voters will cast their ballots in the Nov. 4 election for seats on the Town Council, Board of Education, Planning and Zoning Commission and more.

Cheshire Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Jason Pinkus is running for election to the Cheshire Board of Education as a Republican.

Campaign Website
https://www.facebook.com/profi...

Occupation:

Insurance/Risk Consultant 20 yrs, Commercial Pilot 25 yrs

Family:
Jason Pinkus has been a proud Cheshire resident since the mid-1980's. His wife, Erica is a lifelong resident of Cheshire, and they chose to put down their own roots and raise their family in Cheshire because of its safe, small town feel and strong school system. Their two children have been enrolled in the school system since kindergarten and are currently students at CHS.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
no

Previous public office, appointive or elective:
Cheshire Youth Services Committee 1/12-1/14

Why are you seeking this office?
I am a parent with kids in the district and know first-hand what is going on in the schools and what works and what needs to be fixed. Most of the members of the BoE do not have students in the schools. The Cheshire BoE controls roughly 2/3 of Cheshire’s entire town budget. Spending continues to rise, and when I attended a public meeting in April 2025, I was alarmed to not receive any clear answers as to what is and is not a controllable expense and what can be done to control costs. I specifically questioned the lack of bidding for what they said was 5 years on the Health Insurance, and its enormous expense. With costs rising, along with our property taxes, we must be better stewards of taxpayer dollars—spending wisely, not wastefully—while ensuring our investments directly benefit students and teachers and avoids future cuts to services. Over the last 4 years, this has not been the case. It is time for new leadership on this board.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ____, and this is what I intend to do about it:
The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is uncontrolled spending and cost increases that will become financially unbearable to Cheshire taxpayers. This board recently approved generous contract extensions for multiple work groups and at the same time had their budget they approved and submitted to council cut by the by 2.6 million dollars. I intend to identify all controllable and uncontrollable spending and expenses across the entire budget. I asked the question of expenses at an April 2025 budget meeting and no information was provided. I will be transparent and deliver the most cost-effective solutions to restore and expand the services provided to our most important resources, the students of Cheshire, while giving our teachers the most resources possible. My GOAL is to spend smarter and restore programs and services.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I am a professional consultant who works every day to help clients and businesses to address their financial, health and risk needs, while simultaneously making sure employees are protected. I'm looking to volunteer as a member of this community to use my expertise for this Board and take the time and effort required to help the Cheshire students, teachers, parents and all taxpayers.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
I bring a current parent perspective to the board. I'm ready to tackle major things like redistricting with the time and effort it will require. I'm not looking to make cuts, but want to spend smarter so we can restore lost programs and services. Elementary School Spanish was cut this past Spring. My daughters both picked up a love for foreign language directly due to this program. I intend to push back to prevent cuts to programs like this when tough decision needs to be made. If elected, I want to restore this program. I also want to make sure all students have access to an excellent education which requires budgeting for the resources and staffing to ensure safe and productive learning environments.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
I have 20 years of experience in working as an advisor, continuously navigating large cost increases and the requirements to balance cost savings and employee benefits and values. Doing this work is hard, time consuming and can be intimidating and scary because of what's involved, but I have the skill set needed most at this time for this board. I'm also 100% committed to not sacrificing any academic standards because we need to continue to deliver to our students, parents, teachers and community. I want to make sure all dollars budgeted are being spent in the best way.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
The best advice I ever received was to work hard, speak the truth and be respectful to others.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I want voters to know that I am running for all of Cheshire. That means every student and every family in our community. I will work for you whether you have students currently in the school district, you did 25 years ago, or if you have a newborn now and won't be part of the schools for a few years. I will collaborate with my fellow board members, regardless of party and introduce a new level transparency into the process for the entire community. I will focus both on short term and long-term planning needs during my term. In this 4-year term the enrolled population of the CPS will likely exceed 5000 students for the first time in 25 years. All our students in all the grades deserve the best possible learning environments. This means that we will have 2 brand new schools and 4 that will require significant investments. We will have to redistrict 4 elementary schools. This all needs to be done while maintaining fiscal responsibility because this board is accountable to the entire community. I promise to use every resource responsibly and listen to every voice while our schools continue to grow back to enrollment sizes they were when I was a student here almost 30 years ago. I will position Cheshire to excel and to be the best for years to come.