Meet Franca Biales, Board of Education Candidate for Re-Election

Middletown Patch's meet-the-candidates series allows voters to learn a little bit about the men and women running for public office this November.   

Franca Arcuri Biales is running for re-election on Middletown's Board of Education.

Education: Bachelors Degree from ECSU, Masters from Middlebury College

I am currently on the Board of Education and running for re-election. During my first term on the board, we made major changes in transparency and cooperation between the board, the administration, and the city. I would like to continue to play an active role ensuring this cooperation continues. Such an atmosphere of cooperation is imperative to a healthy school system and a healthy community. 

I bring to the Board both professional and personal experience.  As a high school teacher, I understand the education system and I will bring that knowledge with me to the Board. As a teacher I am currently working with all the same changes that are facing Middletown Public Schools including the new Common Core State Standards and SEED, the new teacher evaluation system.  I can bring the practical perspective to the decision making process because I see how the changes are affecting districts, schools, administrators, teachers and students (and yes, parents, too).  

I still have two children in MPS and I want to make sure that we continue to grow and improve as a school system and community. Since the year 2000 when my oldest began kindergarten at The Lawrence School, I have been an advocate for better quality education, as well as an active parent in PTO, PTA and countless school-sponsored events. What I want for my children, I want for everyone’s children.   

I moved to Middletown thirty years ago to take a teaching job at Haddam-Killingworth High School and have never left Middletown. There is so much about Middletown that I love. I love the Russell Library where our children meet their first peer groups. I love all the activities we sponsor for our young families. I love having Wesleyan University in town because it brings a young, new, vibrant energy to the city that sets us apart from other cities.  

I love our Main Street that still gives you the old Main Street feeling. I appreciate the abundance of opportunities in Middletown to take advantage of the arts and culture (I also serve on the Middletown Commission on the Arts). Middletown has a strong sense of community and a richness that others envy. One of Middletown’s strongest qualities is how it encourages its own to grow and then celebrates their successes.  

I have more leisure time interests than time to indulge in those interests.  I have yet to meet a craft I don’t enjoy. I enjoy reading, knitting, crocheting, designing clothes, the theater, traveling with my family, gardening and preserving the fruits of the garden, cooking and creating new recipes, going to the movies, concerts.  I love discovering new places to eat, visit, or merely walk.  

I could go on and on but most importantly, everything I do, I enjoy doing with family and friends.   

I can always be reached via email at Bialesf@mpsct.org.