In 2025, registered voters in Kent, Conn., will be voting for:
A) Board of Selectmen
B) Zoning Board Members
C) Members of the Board of Education
D) All of the above
(Answer: D – all of the above)
2025 is the off-year election for the people who will run the town government. Beginning in December, this column will begin an in-depth series on Kent’s local government, its history, how it is structured, the importance of volunteers and the jobs they hold, both elected and appointed.
Future columns will also delve into the several budgets that will be created: two for education and one for the Town of Kent. The education budgets are for Kent Center School, the local elementary school (pre-K through 8th grade) and for the Region 1 budget.
Kent is part of Regional School District #1, the first regional district formed east of the Hudson River. It was established in 1937 and includes six towns: Kent, Cornwall, Sharon, Canaan, North Canaan and Salisbury. Each town has its own elementary school and sends their students to Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village (Canaan).
The Region 1 budget is for the high school and the regional school district administration, including Superintendent of Schools and Pupil Services, which includes services for special needs students. This budget is voted on via a referendum (machine vote) on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May each year (May 6 in 2025).
Later in May, the Town of Kent and Kent Center School will present their budgets at public hearings during which the public can express their concerns. Then at a town meeting, the two budgets face a vote by the townspeople. Eligible residents must be present at town hall to vote.
In November 2025, Kent’s voters will vote for the people who run the town. This year there will be a week of early voting before the machine vote on Nov. 4. (Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.) This is a long and complicated ballot that takes some explaining, especially as to how the board of selectmen is determined.
Each month between now and May and again before November, come back to this column for explainers on the town government, how it works, and how it is funded.
Previous Remembering Civics columns can be found here:
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