Nine compete for four slots on the Inter-Lakes School Board

MEREDITH — It may be a record: Nine candidates from Meredith, Center Harbor and Sandwich are vying for four seats on the Inter-Lakes School Board, in a district that includes the elementary school and middle-high school in Meredith and Sandwich Central School. 

Voting will take place Tuesday, March 8: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Meredith Community Center for Meredith voters; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Center Harbor Municipal Building for Center Harbor voters; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Sandwich Town Hall for voters in Sandwich. Voters can select candidates in all four races, which include one at-large member who will serve for one year, and residents from Sandwich, Meredith and Center Harbor who will serve on the board for three years.

For decades, towns throughout New Hampshire and in the Lakes Region have struggled to muster enough residents willing to run for school board positions and take on the job. But parent interest surged with COVID. With the arrival of remote learning and masking requirements, parents argued for parent choice, greater school board and administrator transparency, and a bigger say when it comes to curriculum and the content of what is taught. And that has meant getting involved.

“I think parents want to be recognized and heard,” said Sara Champagne who organized an Inter-Lakes PTO meet-the-candidates night Tuesday at the Wic-Was Grange in Meredith, after a school board candidate forum was canceled at the end of February.

On Wednesday, the NH League of Women Voters hosted a panel at the Meredith Community Center, where candidates answered written questions submitted before or during the event. Responses were limited to two minutes.

Here’s a rundown of the contenders and their views summarized from interviews, emailed replies and statements at the community forums. No incumbents attended the PTO event, and all but one challenger and one incumbent came to the League of Women Voters event.

Charley Hanson, Center Harbor

Incumbent Charley Hanson has lived in Center Harbor for 52 years and served on the Inter-Lakes School Board for the last four. A part-owner of a Holderness-based recycling business, Hanson has also been a selectman and town moderator and is currently chairman of the Center Harbor Planning Board. “Schools play such an important role creating good citizens and we can’t have enough good citizens. At Inter-Lakes, the teaching staff is extremely committed, and we have such great kids,” said Hanson, citing student achievements, specifically in visual art and robotics.

Hanson attended I-L schools from kindergarten through eighth grade, before he went to private school. He and his wife have no children.

The school board’s job, he said, is to set policy and manage the budget, which keeps increasing as costs grow, while enrollment continues to decline. “Getting through COVID there have been hard choices and decisions to make,” he said. “All schools have had learning setbacks. The efforts put in place now will pay dividends in the future.” The goal now is to identify needs, take steps to address them, and allocate resources – which entails “changing curriculum to address those shortfalls so we can get back on track,” he said. Hanson believes his experience operating a business for 30 years and serving in local government give him critical timely skills, including in negotiating contracts.

“I’m not looking to change anything dramatically,” he said. “I’m looking to work with my fellow board members to keep us working away from our COVID situation. I think I’ve done a decent job and I’m trying to do it again.”

Duncan Porter-Zuckerman, Sandwich

Incumbent Duncan Porter-Zuckermanhas lived in Sandwich for 15 years, has two children ages 6 and 8 in Sandwich Central School, and has served on the I-L School Board for six years. 

“I’m running for re-election to help decide the issues that come before the board in ways that will best serve our community, my family and my children, and their peers. I feel I reflect the values of our town and, to the best of my ability, I bring those values and the concerns of our town to the school board as a whole,” said Porter-Zuckerman, who was unable to attend a forum in person and responded by email. “Over the six years I have served I have built strong relationships with the administration, teachers and fellow parents across all the district’s schools and I am able to use those connections to respond when members of our communities have concerns and needs.

“The role of a board member is first and foremost to address the needs of the school district. I don’t see my role as compatible with a personal political agenda. In the coming three years the board will make decisions about many important issues. The schools’ physical plants will be maintained and modified, curriculum and instruction will be evaluated and adjusted, contracts will be negotiated, and administrative staff will be managed and hired. In the coming term, my first priority will be to maintain and foster a school system that keeps our children safe and helps them to learn and grow.”

Andi Martin, Sandwich

Andi Martin moved to Sandwich two years ago from Colorado, where she served as a police officer and a mental health worker and supervisor at a treatment center for abused and traumatized children. She currently serves as consultant for a business she started that serves dogs with special needs and behavior challenges. She has no children but said she would bring essential skills and valuable experience to serving on the school board, including communicating and listening to parents with valid concerns and diverse perspectives.

Martin watched friends battle with school boards over the last year, and she hopes to change how parents are treated at school board meetings. “They feel they’re not being heard. I’ve witnessed them (the school board) disregard parent’s wishes and be condescending toward parents and what they’re asking.” This breeds anger and discontent and thwarts communication and mutual understanding, she said.

“Íf voters feel they need a change, they should pick me,” Martin said at the PTO forum. “If voters feel like parents should have more of a say in what their children experience in school, they should vote for me. I want to be a voice for the parents who have been fighting so hard.”

She said she hopes to bring kindness, listening skills, and professional experience in mediation and conflict resolution to serving on the school board.

Mark Anderson, Meredith

Anderson moved here six years ago and has a fifth grader, eighth grader and a tenth grader in Inter-Lakes schools.

“I am running because in my heart of hearts, I have spent so much time with all the kids in this community,” coaching youth basketball, soccer and baseball for the last four years. “My children are in the (school) system for another seven years and I want to make sure they’re getting every opportunity they can when it comes to their education and everything the school has to offer.”

For 16 years, Anderson has run an audio and media company with 10 to 12 employees, managing workers, clients, union contractors and costs. He said one of his main concerns is sufficient budget oversight, while ensuring students’ needs are met through courses and activities that nurture the entire person. He said when he asked the board why the superintendent’s office budget jumped roughly $100,000 over last year, no administrator or member provided an answer, which makes it impossible to determine if the expense is reasonable and warranted. At meetings, “I started to take notice that not one board member ever objects. Do they have these conversations before the meeting? No one ever knows.”

“Everyone talks about diversity, gender and beliefs. What about differences of opinion? When you come to a consensus in the middle, its usually a better result than it would be if it’s one sided and everyone agrees,” Anderson said at the PTO candidate forum on Tuesday.

 Kirsten Williams, Meredith

Williams grew up in Plymouth, worked in the Inter-Lakes school system as a volleyball coach and para-educator, and now is a school counselor in Campton Elementary School. She has a two-year-old daughter who will eventually attend Inter-Lakes schools.

“I’ve seen the impact the pandemic has had on student academics and social-emotional wel-lbeing,” Williams said Tuesday at the PTO forum. “I’m a taxpayer and care about the budget and making sure the teachers aren’t getting lost the shuffle, too, with all the testing and data,” which stifles creativity and innovation in teaching and learning.

 She said she’s discouraged by recent fighting and arguing at school board meetings, in this and other communities, and hopes to build back connections, trust and respect. “I want to be a part of bringing people back together and listening and working together, because we all have different views,” Williams said at the League of Women Voters forum. “We don’t always have to agree. But we need to live together and be kind.” It’s critical to have parent voices on the school board because many parents feel unheard.

“We’ve become really polarized. I want us to come back together,” said Williams. “You need a village to raise kids. I want the village to come back. I want to be a voice for parents, and really listen.”

Mark Billings, Meredith

Incumbent Mark Billings did not respond to requests for an interview or answers to emailed questions, but attended the League of Women Voters event.

Billings is an economist and conservationist, and serves as vice-chairman of the Inter-Lakes School Board, as well as chairman of the board that oversees both Ashland Elementary School and the Inter-Lakes District, he told voters at forum on Wednesday.  

“Now, in this time, it is important for us as a town, as a community, as a school district to come together, to work together, to talk things out...the hard work is in front of us. We can identify learning gaps and address them. The social and emotional is a much harder job. That has to be a priority for all of us, not just members of the board.”

Billings said he believes one of the town’s and district’s great successes has been the acquisition of an 800-acre parcel a half-mile from the Inter-Lakes campus, which is now used as an outdoor classroom, where every kindergartner through eighth grader spent a full day last year. “There is an amazing relationship between education and conservation,” said Billings, who has chaired the Meredith Conservation Commission for 10 years.

Howard Cunningham, Sandwich – candidate for one-year member-at-large

Howard Cunningham did not respond to the paper’s requests for an interview or to emailed questions. Cunningham served as an Inter-Lakes School Board member 18 years between 2002 and 2020. In a letter to the editor of the Laconia Daily Sun on Feb. 24, he said he brings continuity, experience, negotiating skills, and a deep respect for the board. Cunningham participated in negotiations with the Inter-Lakes Education Association to forge the collective bargaining agreement in effect from 2020 to 2023. He currently occupies the position vacated when board member Richard Hanson moved out of state.

“I said yes to being appointed to the member at large position because of my belief that board continuity was in the school district’s best interest during this period of social unrest and economic turmoil,” Hanson wrote.

“It’s no secret that the hot button issue locally has been masking,” which he said, along with other efforts, enabled the school to provide in-person learning. “We all remember how ineffective remote education was along with its many secondary disruptions. I am in favor of relaxing masking requirements as soon as we can do so safely which means being free from a possible COVID resurgence. I will continue to rely heavily on the determinations of the Inter-Lakes COVID Team that was initiated by Superintendent Mary Moriarty,” Cunningham said.

Rachel Xavier, Center Harbor – challenger for one-year member-at-large

Rachel Xavier, a local real estate professional affiliated with Keller-Williams, has a son at Inter-Lakes Middle School and has lived in Center Harbor for seven years. She currently serves on the Center Harbor Planning Board, and is a member of the Community Development Association and Friends of Meredith Parks and Recreation. Xavier organizes fundraising events for local service organizations.

She said she hopes to bring energy, a parent voice, and a fresh perspective to a board where incumbents have served the school district for many years. The daughter of two teachers, Xavier said she respects the interests of students, parents, and educators, and plans to continue the post-COVID missions of combating learning loss and rallying the community together. “I have the children’s, teacher’s and community’s best interests at heart,” she said. She said it’s time for some changes. 

“I’d like to take schools back to where we used to be before the pandemic,” Xavier said. “I think there needs to be people speaking up and asking questions to make sure we really have everybody’s best interests at hand.”

She said board members without children weren’t able to witness firsthand what students and parents endured during COVID’s shutdowns, isolation and remote learning. “A lot of people had hard times and children struggled with mental health issues. We’re in uncharted waters with the pandemic,” she said. “I’m not saying they haven’t done a good job, but I think we could make it better.”

She questions why the budget keeps increasing while the student population is dropping. “I understand prices are going up for a lot of things,” said Xavier. "I’d like to dig deeper into that. I think there should be more investigation into that, and more questioning.”

Jamie Moore, Center Harbor

Jamie Moore moved to Center Harbor two months ago from Allenstown, where she served on the school board. Before that, she was a member of the PTO for six years. 

She has children in fifth and sixth grade in Inter-Lakes schools, and an interest in special education and experience as a mother of a child with accommodations through an individualized education program.

She said the Allenstown district successfully applied for grants to help with the costs of upgrading buildings and funding some student services.

“I’m not sure what I’d change because I’m new to the area. I hope that we’d all work together and basically accomplish what we need to for the kids so they have a better school life,” and that includes providing after-school activities, said Moore. “We need to make sure the kids are getting challenged in school if they need to be challenged.”