Community donors contribute to help pay down Laconia school lunch debt

LACONIA — The third meeting of the Laconia School Board in its new term, its last of 2022, mirrored the holiday season, highlighting community generosity and a look to the future. 

Lunch debt donations

Business Administrator Diane Clary told the board at the Dec. 20, 2022 meeting that, after rising awareness and newspaper coverage of the district’s ballooning lunch debt, local residents had donated money to help pare it down. 

About $6,000 in donations from the community have been applied to the debt, according to Clary.

The debt has been mounting since the start of this school year, the first since the start of the pandemic without the federal free universal lunch program. Before the holiday break, and without applying those donations, the debt stood at $18,734, with an average daily increase of about $260, down slightly since the more than $300 daily increase average in the fall, according to Clary.

Contributing to the debt are a drop in free and reduced lunch applications by some families who qualify and bills simply going unpaid by others, district staff said in November. If the debt isn’t paid, the district’s general fund covers the costs.

Donations from the community alleviate some of that strain on district funds, but the root causes of the debt — and their broadly reaching consequences — remain. 

The donations do prove that coverage of a local issue can catalyze change, as was the case with other Daily Sun reporting last year. Notably, coverage of Belknap House over the summer sparked three separate donations of $25,000 each to the organization.

High school principal search begins

The board also appointed two members at the meeting, Jennifer Anderson and Dawn Johnson, to serve on the search committee for Laconia High School’s next principal.

The committee of about 12, led by Superintendent Steve Tucker, includes middle and high school administrators, a parent representative, representatives from the paraprofessionals and teachers unions and community liaisons in addition to school board members, according to Tucker. 

Tucker told the board in December that the committee aims to present a candidate for board approval by the Feb. 7 meeting. The job posting, up since just before the Christmas holiday, states that interviews will begin Monday, Jan. 23. 

The search period of about a month appears slightly longer than postings in 2022 for elementary school principals, which were each advertised for about two weeks, according to Daily Sun records.

Current Principal Jim McCollum stepped into the role on an interim basis in Oct. 2021 when former Principal Robert Bennett became too ill to work. Bennett died less than a week later from cancer. McCollum previously served as assistant principal at Laconia High in the early 2000s and as principal from 2012 to 2016. Last spring, the board approved an extension of his interim service through the end of this school year.

Chair looks ahead

Looking to the year, and board term, ahead, new chair Anderson made a lengthy statement about her leadership approach and vision.

The board recently completed a training session with the New Hampshire School Boards Association, providing information about responsibilities such as running smooth, efficient meetings and understanding Right to Know obligations. 

“Reviewing the orientation brought me back to the effectiveness of a team, and that is what we all are,” Anderson reflected.

“It requires mutual trust, a clear understanding to the school board’s role in governance and the superintendent’s role in administrating the daily functions of the district,” She continued. “It doesn’t necessarily mean, as we’ve seen, that everyone agrees on issues or agrees on the best ways to address challenges. But that’s our job: healthy debate is vital for prudent school board decision making.”

“That, I believe, is my number one priority in serving in the role of chair,” Anderson concluded. “I hope to furnish a team of mutual respect and trust.”