Bruce Jenket: What is the vision of the Moultonborough School Board?

To The Daily Sun, 

Has the Moultonborough School Board pulled the wool over voter’s eyes again this year? According to the New Hampshire Department of Education,  Moultonborough’s proficiencies in English and math are 58% and 42% respectively. At both the “meet the candidate’s night” and at the town meeting, the school board chair and school superintendent dismissed those proficiencies as unimportant. The school superintendent claimed Moultonborough was one of the top 10 schools in NH based on a report by the Advanced Placement Association. The criteria to make that list is the number of Advance Placement (AP) classes the school offers, not actual proficiencies. Here is a link to confirm (tinyurl.com/m6v8x5e3). 

The second issue is the cost of education in Moultonborough. According to the NH DOE the cost per student is $34,375 in Moultonborough. The state average is $22,700 and the national average is $17,090. Last year, Moultonborough’s school budget was $19,339,785 and they graduated 33 students. Do the math, $19,339,785/33=$586,054 per student. That is the average cost of a house in NH. At the town meeting, I proposed the 2027 school budget not increase from the 2026 budget. It failed. I was not surprised.

Each year teachers and parents of students make up the bulk of the voters that show up. It only makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is why they accept average performance for how much we spend. Which gets back to my opening statement. Has the Moultonborough School Board pulled the wool over voter’s eyes again?

I will close with an acknowledgement that Moultonborough is a good school, but it could be better. I ran for school board to improve proficiencies and be a good steward of town funds. Our current school board does not share my vision. Do readers? If so, they need to show up and vote.

Bruce Jenket

Moultonborough