Hogan and Jacques claim Gilford School Board seats

GILFORD — Nicole Hogan, a mental health counselor-in-training with children in Gilford Elementary School, and Jessica Jacques, a seasoned educator and math teacher whose children attend the elementary and middle schools, won the town's two open seats on the Gilford School Board.

Hogan, with 783 votes, was the top vote-getter on Tuesday, followed closely by Jacques, who received 767 votes. Koleen Crawford trailed with 452. Michelle Tyler claimed 436, and Patrick Hughes came in fifth with 141 votes in a contest between five parents who were passionate about preserving education quality in the town’s schools. Hogan and Jacques replace outgoing board members Gretchen Gandini and Karen Thurston.

“It doesn’t feel like an individual win, or like it’s even about me. It’s a village decision,” said Hogan, who said she was pleasantly surprised by the election results. “I don’t even know that many people.  I was just grateful to be the person that represented what people wanted. The board is a group entity, and I really want to focus on getting to know other members and understanding where they’re at in internal processes, and really learning the lay of the land.”

Hogan said she hopes to look at school district policies through the lens of mental health, and increase parent, teacher and community involvement. “I want to focus on making our district a top district in the state. The reason most people move here is for Gilford schools. It’s a community effort and we want to keep moving towards excellence.”

Hogan said she’s received congratulatory messages. “The support of Gilford has been amazing. It’s made me love this town even more, even before I started this process.”

Jacques echoed those sentiments. “This has been a great learning experience and I received a lot of positive feedback along the way,” she said Wednesday.

Joining the board now, Jacques said she plans to bolster her knowledge on district policy and the budget and attend training offered by the NH School Board Association. “I want to focus on learning loss. We really need to tackle that. In my opinion all children were impacted by COVID in some way by frequent absences, quarantining and initial shutdowns. How do we push students to reach their full potential? How do we fill the gaps? Average to top learners haven’t received the typical push because of high and frequent absences,” she said.

Hogan and Jacques join Jeanin Onos, Kyle Sanborn and Audra Kelly on Gilford’s seven-member school board, which includes two representatives from Gilmanton. Gilford School District, SAU 73, consists of Gilford Elementary, Middle and High School, while the Gilmanton School District is comprised of Gilmanton School, an elementary-middle school. Under an agreement between the districts, Gilmanton students attend Gilford High School. This corrects information reported in Wednesday’s Laconia Daily Sun that Gilford’s district included Gilmanton School.