To The Daily Sun,
Voters in Meredith, Center Harbor and Sandwich, I am Mark Billings and I am asking for your vote to serve another term on the Inter-Lakes School Board. I am currently the vice chair of the ILSD Board and chair of the SAU 2 Board. Now, more than anytime in my nine years on the school board has there been the need for all of us to come together, work together, to talk together. I am speaking to the entirety of our school community when I say, the hard work lies in front of us and it will take time. Experience, communication, creativity and compassion will be vital. I love my town and it’s people and I love our schools and the three communities it serves.
I have two passions, education and conservation. In addition to my work on the school board, I have been a member of the Meredith Conservation Commission for the last 14 years, serving as chair for 10 years. During that period, the Town of Meredith acquired and conserved the 800-acre Page Pond Community Forest. This amazing property is a mere 1/2 mile from our Meredith campus and is already being used as an outdoor classroom for all us. I was the guy that knocked on your door back in 2008 to 2010 and again in 2017 asking for your support. More than $3 million was raised, more than 1,000 private contributions and this amazing classroom is protected forever.
In addition, I served nine years as Meredith’s treasurer. I am a member of Meredith’s Energy Committee and currently the chair of Meredith’s CIP Committee. My wife Martha and I were sponsors of the outdoor classroom along the Laverack Trail. My professional career was in finance and economics and I thought my skills would also benefit the school board. At that time, annual school budget growth was pushing through 7% and we needed to find ways to slow that budget growth. We have succeeded in slowing that growth rate to just over 2% for next year. When I decided to run for school board I knew there was a lot I didn’t know, so I attended every school board meeting for the next three years before I running for school board in 2013.
My wife Martha and I came home to New Hampshire 21 years ago, when we moved to Meredith. While living in Mill Valley California, Martha was an elementary school teacher in the school our two youngest boys attended. As a parent, one of my earliest revelations was how differently each child learned. I began reading about “competency based learning” back in the late '80s and it remains a core principle of mine. I have tremendous respect for the work our staff does. We have great teachers and a strong administrative team. Please keep the school board intact so together we can all move forward. Remember, it takes a village.
Mark Billings
Meredith
(1) comment
From California and Votes like it too:
- Votes RINO (Republican in Name Only)
- Supports CRT (Critical Race Theory)
- Has supported tripling the budget on a per student basis
Remember, School Taxes are a large portion of your annual property taxes.
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