Meet the candidates:

NORWICH - About 40 voters turned out last night at the Eaton Center to meet the seven candidates vying for five positions on the Norwich City School District’s Board of Education.

During the two-hour event, sponsored by the district’s Parent/Teacher Organization, the candidates fielded, in turn, a list of questions that were prepared in advance. They later answered a handful of questions from the audience.

The candidates are: Sally Chirlin, 73; Mark Hollifield, 49; Kim Mack, 40; Joe Stagliano, 39; Tim Brown, 58; Clyde Birch, Jr. 48; and Priscilla Johnson, 58. Johnson, Brown and Birch are incumbents vying to retain their seats on the board.

Many of the questions posed concerned how the candidates would inspire administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents and volunteers to become more vested and active in the school district. Others asked what individual characteristics each would bring to the board, as well as what issues were most important to them.

All of the candidates said the board’s primary responsibility would be to settle the outstanding contract with the district’s support staff. “We need those signs to come down,” said Chirlin, a former long-time teacher in Norwich and New Berlin. “It doesn’t attract people to our community. I hope that’s one thing that we certainly get accomplished.”

Chirlin joined all of the other candidates when she called for more appreciation for teachers and staff.

“I know what it’s like to be a teacher and not feel appreciated. Parents, teachers and the administration need to find ways to encourage staff and make them feel appreciated. We need a climate for learning to take place.”

Birch, a native of Norwich, said, “Stronger school district employees, taken care of and appreciated, means a stronger local economy.”

Stagliano, who came to the area as an executive with NBT Bank in 1999, said many key decisions need to be made in the coming year, including employee contracts, budgeting and overseeing the building project. The candidate said he would bring “a fresh set of eyes” and experience managing people, budgets and negotiating contracts.