School Board Member Biography

Name: Dorese Roberts

Phone Number: 568-4969

Term Expires: 2011

Dorese Roberts was born in Brooklyn, where she graduated from high school.  She went to the Borough of Manhattan Community College for two years, where she studied community mental health and then medical records technology.  She also went to cosmetology school, and has just renewed her New York State cosmetology license.  She went to college with the intention of becoming a nurse, but her career plans were interrupted by the arrival of twins!  She worked for the New York Police Department for six years as a fingerprint technician. 

Ms. Roberts brought her four daughters to East Hartford in the early nineties, and worked in the State unemployment office in Manchester until she had to undergo major surgery in 1994 that left her partially disabled.  She had to learn how to walk and how to feed herself; thus she understands first-hand some of the issues faced by persons with disabilities. 

Why are you a Board of Education Member?:
Ms. Roberts joined the school board in the mid-2000s.  She sees herself as a good listener who brings people together and who brings common sense to the Board.  She serves on the curriculum committee and believes strongly that children need to be able to read well in order to meet their goals.  “If you have that, you can go anywhere.”  She belongs to the Greater Refuge Church in Hartford. 

All of Ms. Roberts’ daughters went through the East Hartford public schools and all have college degrees; two are studying for their master’s degrees.  Ms. Roberts’s granddaughter, a seventh grader, presently lives with her.