SHERMAN — Growing up in the ‘90s in Sherman, Matt Vogt enjoyed playing with his friends and seeing his teachers at The Sherman School.
Vogt, who is now 35 and has children who attend the school, has come full circle. He’s been named the chairman of the school’s Board of Education.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to take on the leadership role,” said Vogt, a father of six whose wife, Kristen Vogt, is pregnant with their seventh child. “It’s important work.”
He takes on the role during a changing time in the district. The school is adjusting to having a part-time, interim superintendent and embarking on several projects, including one to make the water drinkable in the school.
Vogt, who had been serving as vice chairman of the seven-member board since last November, stepped into his new position after Brian Berlandi, the former education chairman, resigned upon relocating to Pawling, N.Y. He was appointed to the board in 2020 to fill a vacancy.
Vogt, who is up for election next November, said a new vice chairman will be elected at the next education board meeting Sept. 7.
Vogt has been active in the town and the school for a long time. He serves on the town’s building committee and the school’s policy and curriculum committee.
Previously, he was chairperson of the school’s Capital Planning Committee and also served on its Facility, Repair and Renovation Committee — both of which no longer exist.
He was also a member of the school’s Special Education Transportation Committee.
Going forward, Vogt said one of the goals of the education board will be to work on developing a new strategic plan for the school. The current plan, created about five years ago, is coming to an end, he said.
A strategic plan sets out the goals the district would like initiated in the future.
“It’s a plan so that we have kind of a road map to help us reach our goals,” he said.
He added there will be a lot of community input to help develop the plan going forward.
School projects
The school is also working on a few projects, including a new playground being installed in the coming months.
Other school repair projects involve improving its water system. The school is using water coolers since the water in the building isn’t drinkable because there are some issues with the chlorides in the water, he said.
“A new well was drilled but there’s also issues with the water being very hard,” Vogt said. “That has had a lot of impact on the mechanical and the plumbing systems within the school, just because of buildup from minerals.”
Additionally, he said there’s a lot of “dead-end plumbing” in the school.
“The school has dead-end plumbing in it from being the product of multiple additions being put on over the years,” Vogt said. “So, you get issues with bacteria spikes in the water system that are sometimes hard to find and you have to shut the water down.”
He said the district has discussed trying to put in a water softening system to help the mineral issue.
“But, really, (regarding) the large parts of the building that need a lot of work, it all has to be addressed together in order to solve some of these problems,” he added.
He said parts of the building need entirely new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, “which are outdated and failing,” Vogt said.
The school also needs ventilation work in order to comply with the state’s new heating, ventilation and air conditioning requirements after COVID-19.
Additionally, roofing issues need to be addressed at the school. Last December, in a vote of 49 to 1, residents voted against a temporary repair to the roof, which had been a hot issue in town.
Vogt said he’s looking forward to working with all the new administration at school, which includes interim, part-time Superintendent Pat Cosentino and Principal Mary Fernand.
Danbury resident Jeff Melendez, who left the district, served in both those capacities. Vogt said he felt it was a conflict of interests for one person to serve in both those positions.
“The superintendent is like the business manager for the school and the principal, in my mind, is like the instructional leader for the school. So it’s difficult to have those two roles combined,” he said. “The superintendent really is supposed to oversee the principal and the administration. So you kind of don’t have the checks and balances that come with having that as two separate roles.”
Vogt said as it’s “a real honor” to have the opportunity to give back to the school.
He added all board members brings their own skills and experience to the table.
“We’ve developed a really positive and productive working relationship, which I think is great for the town and the school,” he said.
Growing up in Sherman
Vogt was born in Sherman and lives about four miles from his childhood home, in the home where his parents still live. The home was purchased by his grandparents in the 1950s.
When Vogt attended The Sherman School, the population was growing and a major addition to the school constructed.
“We were probably up around 500 or 600 students at the time,” he said, of the school, which now has about 270 students.
Growing up, his father was president of a nonprofit organization that’s now called the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy. Vogt said he was proud of his dad for serving in that role.
“It’s important for our kids to see us being involved and doing what we can to give back,” he said.
After graduating from New Milford High School, Vogt was in the National Guard for five years. He was deployed to Nangarhar, Afghanistan in 2000. Just before he deployed, he and his wife got married.
While in the National Guard, Vogt was in the infantry and was a machine gunner in armored vehicles.
When he returned, he started his own business, a lake and pond maintenance and restoration company called New England Aquatic Services
After living in New Milford for a time, he moved back to Sherman in 2014.
“We were renting a house and then decided, after our experience with the school, that we wanted to buy in Sherman,” Vogt said. “That’s where we wanted to permanently raise our family.”
Several of Vogt’s former teachers still work at the school and some have taught his children. Many of his former classmates now have children who are classmates with his own children.
“Overall, I have a real appreciation for the school and the town of Sherman. As a kid, you’re like, ‘get me out of this tiny town. I want to see the world,’” he said. “Then, you grow up, you become an adult … and you’re like, ‘this is great.’”
He said he is very proud to have grown up and now watch his children grow up in a small town like Sherman.
“My best memories are of all of the relationships I developed during my time at the school. Some of my best friends to this day are kids I went to Sherman with,” he said. “There’s something about how close knit you become with the same small group over nine or 10 years, and where you can look back on growing up in that environment and say, ‘we all got to experience that together.’”
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