School board elects new chair, installs new members

LACONIA — Ward-at-large representative Jennifer Anderson was unanimously elected to serve as chair of the Laconia School Board at its organizational meeting Tuesday night. Nick Grenon of Ward 5 was elected vice chair, also unanimously, and newly elected and re-elected board members Karin Salome and Laura Dunn were sworn in for their three-year term. 

If the board is aiming to proceed with more constructive debate and amicable disagreements than it has in the last year, Anderson and Grenon are poised to lead by example. 

“I’m honored and quite humbled to be chosen,” Anderson said in an interview after the meeting. “I hope they [fellow board members] noticed I’ve been open to discussion and that I come into meetings not having any preconceptions about things.” 

Anderson said her goal for leading the board is to get to know each member better, having only served one year, and to “maintain accessibility and communication,” among board members and between the board and the community.

When asked about why his peers may have unanimously supported him, Grenon said, “I feel like I tend to gravitate toward the middle on most things. I try to only provide input when it’s absolutely needed and not come into meetings ready to pick sides.”

He continued that he was excited to serve as vice chair and hopes that the board can serve with a shared understanding of their common purpose: “to make the district better,” he said.

Both Anderson’s and Grenon’s nominations, the only for each position, were put forth by Dunn. 

Anderson, who was elected to the board a year ago, has frequently spoken up as a mediator during board disputes. Board member Heather Drolet, who, among others, has quarreled with Dunn over her dual status as a board member and president of the parent-teacher organization at Pleasant Street School, affirmed Anderson’s nomination.

Drolet complimented Anderson on her “impartial, fair and balanced” perspective and said she looked forward to her leadership. 

Other business of the board at the meeting included initial discussion about how and when the board would develop policy on including a student representative. HB 1381, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, requires all school boards in New Hampshire to have at least one student representative from each of the high schools they maintain.

The district is also struggling to find a bidder for its ESSER-funded renovations — due to a construction “summer slam” where districts compete for contractors who can finish their projects within the tight timeline of summer months — and may need to consider a more flexible schedule and hire a project manager.

As the first meeting of the new term came to a close, lingering embers of past disputes smoldered. 

During public comment, Kierra Green condemned negative language that had swirled around in the final days of the school board election in Ward 2.

In the days leading up to the election, outgoing board Chair Aaron Hayward wrote a letter to The Sun endorsing Dunn’s opponent in her reelection bid, saying that Dunn, along with Dawn Johnson, who was not up for reelection, had “made this last year as difficult as I could have imagined, for our board, our schools, and our community.” Hayward wrote that Dunn and Johnson, by “blocking and filibustering most topics that the superintendent has brought to us for discussion and action,” had unnecessarily drawn out school board proceedings with the goal of “creating chaos or advancing personal agendas.”

Another letter about Dunn in the days ahead of the election, authored by Matt Lahey, criticized her for not enrolling her children at Woodland Heights, the elementary school nearest her ward. Dunn in response emphasized that all parents in Laconia can choose to send their children to any of the three elementary schools.

Green said that Hayward and Lahey had unnecessarily spread “hate and misinformation” as well as “fear” about a board member. She commended those who had written positive letters and notably highlighted one by Dunn’s opponent, Kelley Gaspa-Caravona, following the election.