Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sadowski said one of her concerns was the autonomy of the district and the decisions being made. She said the charter and district process, unlike any other in the state, carried with it a greater responsibility to elicit feedback from the public about decisions — with open and thorough conversations and many more of them. It is not enough to post minutes online, she said. Policy discussion and implementation must be “distilled in plain language about the impacts down the road for the decisions we’re considering.” That discussion and decision is not just about her being an abutter to the project.

Sadowski said she met with Superintendent Kathleen Murphy and spoke to school members about the size and scope of the project and still had a lot of questions about the decision to move the new middle school to the east side.

“I think that a decision of this magnitude requires some really thoughtful consideration as a full city,” she said. “I don’t just want to represent my neighborhood. I want to represent our city and find what the majority wants to do. Because once the die is cast, we’re going to be committed to a plan of action. And even at this moment, I don’t know what those mechanisms are for that decision moving forward.”

Sadowski said small clusters of meetings and hearings with “targeted focus groups” should have been held before the December 2023 decision. Residents and families were busy and under “incredible constraints” to make ends meet, and they only had a few hearings as options to discuss such a large project. It would be “the humane thing” to do, she said, adding the process should not just be a rubber stamp on a committee decision.

Sadowski also said she was committed to a revote on the location after establishing the mechanism to move forward, especially when considering finances. This question still needs to be answered. She called for “data sampling” from city residents about all aspects of the project, something that had not been done.

Concerning the district’s budget, Sadowski would focus on providing a quality education at a reasonable tax rate. Her husband is a teacher, so she understands the need to support staff. It is also about shared values. But priorities, too, need to be set. Growing administration costs are a concern, she said. Better transparency was also needed.

“If we continue to squeeze families, we’re going to lose our socioeconomic diversity,” she said. “It’s an investment in the future of the city. We need to have buy-in from the community … (but) we can’t have it all.”

When considering merging Concord and Merrimack Valley school districts, Sadowski said it was worthy of discussion, but she needed to learn more about the idea before commenting. However, as the 2020 count showed, Concord experienced many demographic shifts. She agreed that the 2030 Census, which was just six years away, would show more changes to the city.

“It may reflect some of the larger trends our state is facing, where young families (are settling), bringing a high degree of economic utility to the city,” she said.

Disaster Cleanup Coordinator Files

Scroggins is a parent and a director with ServiceMaster, who has worked on disaster relief across the country, including storm and hurricane cleanup.

He said the middle school project being relocated to the city’s east side was a significant reason for him to sign up to run.

“I think long-term, that’s the problem now,” he said. “It will impact future generations.”

Scroggins wanted to ensure the decisions made now would not saddle his children with unbearable debt in the future. The community, he said, was “pretty, strongly vocal” about keeping the school at the current location. Scroggins said solid academics and strong extracurriculars needed to be a continued focus of the board.

If a revote on the location were raised, Scroggins would support it and would work to ensure the community was more involved with the decision. He said the district’s autonomy required members to be more transparent.

Scroggins would like the building to remain on its current footprint. However, the “mechanics and specifics” of the cost were “a big question,” and many in the community questioned “the accuracy of (the costs).” He said there should be “clarity and visibility of what those numbers actually mean.” Scroggins questioned whether rebuilding at the site would be in the $130 million to $160 million estimates before state aid and interest being bandied about. Scroggins said Rundlett was not a great learning environment. Something needed to be done. But the current plan did not work.

Regarding budgeting, the struggle Scroggins sees is the district’s desire to do everything. It would be amazing, he said, to have everything everyone wanted in a new middle school or educational programs. At the same time, the district was punting complicated finances, tax rates, and debt to future generations.

“It is unsustainable,” he said, “and it is going to be unsustainable.”

Scroggins said his role would be to offer “a lot of hard questions” and “expected answers” versus “soft answers.” He does not think every request was “challenged enough.” Scroggins added, “Look, I’m not an anarchist. I don’t support a zero budget. I’m not one of those folks. But I do think we have to have question everything we want to spend money on … to make sure it is the most important thing.”

As far as working to merge both the Penacook and Concord school districts, he called it “an interesting concept” and worthy of exploring and discussing to bring back to the community for consideration.

Scroggins said returning authority to residents was “super important.” He was not blaming past board members for their actions, either. But the board should make decisions based on what the entire community wants. It is imperative, he said, “to get there.”

Incumbent Wants 4th Term

Higgins said she waited to decide to run again so she could consult with family and ensure she had their support to serve another three years.

After having several long discussions about it, including talking with her young son, who jokes about another school board meeting she would be running off to, she decided to run again.

Higgins said it was essential to ensure more than one educator was on the board. She and Brenda Hastings, who won a second three-year term last year, are the only ones who have taught in the district.

There was also the historical perspective of the city and district. Having been a native and on the board for more than a decade, new members often raise issues that have already been discussed and considered. She said, “People don’t always realize how much history goes into decisions … it saves hours of time.”

Higgins also said six of the nine members currently did not live in the city 12 years ago.

“Only two were born here,” Higgins added. “If I’m off the board, that goes away.”

She said new residents to the city see a lot of things. They bring an essential perspective and opportunity to see things differently, but they can often also offer “a narrow mindset.”

Higgins also said the politicization of the board in recent years was not healthy. Board members should represent “every taxpayer and every resident’s child regardless of skin tone or political designation” and need to learn to “separate their ideations” from themselves. Some members seemed not to be trying to represent everyone, generalizing, she said.

“I listen to what everyone says and give everyone equal consideration,” she said. “Whether I personally agree with them or not. What I believe defines me as a person but does not define me as a board member.”

As one of three votes against relocating the new middle school, she would support a revote if a process was established to hold one. If there is no revote, “I’ll make sure the project is the best that it can be,” she said.

Budgeting was complicated, and there were fixed costs, Higgins said, but at the same time, serious decisions were being made on behalf of everyone in the community. One person on the board might be able to afford it but another person in the community might not.

“It’s a huge decision to make,” Higgins said.

One year, things make fiscal sense. But five years later, those decisions might not be the best.

Change, she said, can be challenging. But, she added, “Every good decision begins with a discussion … they can go on for years. It doesn’t mean it will happen tomorrow, and some of those decisions are met with indignation.” People forget when Walker Elementary School students were moved to the Beaver Meadow Elementary School because there was more room or when the sixth grade was moved to Rundlett, she said, or when it changed from a “junior high school” to a “middle school.”

Higgins said the current frustration with the charter can be linked directly to the elementary school consolidation process, which “decimated our community.” Even some people involved in that process admit it now. Higgins said it is one of the problems with having an autonomous board making decisions.

Other Info

Pamela Walsh, the school board president, has also stated she intended to file to run for another three-year term. As of noon on Thursday, she has not filed.

Bob Cotton, the third incumbent, had previously said he was on the fence about whether to run again.

Patrick Taylor, the district clerk, has also filed to run for reelection.

How To File

The filing period for candidates runs through 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16, at the district office at 38 Liberty St. in Concord.

To run, candidates must be registered to vote and domiciled in the Concord School District (a district map is linked here).

Also Read

Do you have a news tip? Please email it to [email protected]. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

Click Here: st kilda saints guernsey 2019